Bloody Fever
by Rainbowkittyblossomwings
Summary: Fuyuki is a young researcher of the supernatural, intent on finding out the mysteries of a small town, closed off from the rest of the world and the murders happening in it. Natsumi, just wants her older brother to stop chasing a foolish dream of finding some sort of monster or supernatural creature. They don't exist, right? Supernatural Monster AU.
1. Train

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **A new AU! Sorry I'm not updating my other things at the moment but since it was Halloween (at least at the moment) I wanted to write something that I could market off as Halloween-y. Even though it wasn't.**

 **This is an AU based on the monster genre, of like supernatural creatures like Werewolves and Vampires. Note about the setting, I imagine it as not present time but more Victorian and older.**

 **I just wanted to write a fun AU. Uhhh the title has nothing to do with anything I just mashed words together, my apologies. I always do that.**

 **This story will be only ten chapters. So short for me. Which is good.**

* * *

"The conductor has said there's no problems with our bags. They're all packed." Natsumi sat down next to her brother on the train. Her brother leaned on his arm and sighed, looking out the window.

He surveyed the farming communities that they kept on passing and the clean wilderness, untouched by man.

"Fuyuki?" Natsumi shook his arm. "Having second thoughts?" she asked her brother. "You scared of trains or something?" She gave a nervous laugh. Trains were relatively new, and she had never rode one before. Maybe Fuyuki had. Her little brother traveled a lot more than she did.

"No." Fuyuki shook his head. "I'm - I'm shaking with excitement! Sis, this could be what the occult is looking for! I mean... It's just so mysterious. A town far away from the rest of civilization... countless reports of strange disappearances. Outsiders rarely ever return, sis. Nobody's done any research on this place. Don't you think something supernatural is going on?" His eyes were sparkling.

Natsumi sighed. Her brother was eighteen, a young adult. He should have put these childish notions behind him. But here he was, having finished all his schooling and instead of settling down and getting married he was running off to solve some sort of mysterious murder in a country that was far away from their own.

 _Where did I go wrong?_ Natsumi wondered. How had her life lead to this? Following her younger brother into a dangerous town to make sure he didn't end up being murdered by someone like every other traveler who had entered this town had. "Fuyuki, it's been discovered that outsiders don't return because they're _killed_. People have been disappearing! Why do you think that is?" She held up the newspaper which had addressed the disappearances. "They are killed. There's nothing supernatural about being killed." She crossing her arms and frowned.

"But the authorities haven't even looked into this town. They're too superstitious. The people realize there's something supernatural going on. Why can't you just give me a chance to prove this? I'll get the evidence to prove the supernatural monsters exist," said Fuyuki.

Natsumi leaned back in her chair. "Are you saying a werewolf, or - gasp - a vampire did it? That's just childish, Fuyuki. And even if they did, it's not our job to leave our home and capture them."

"It might not be your job. But it is mine. I studied for years about the supernatural when I went off to school. And I'm ready to prove that I didn't just study a bunch of childish foolishness," he insisted. Natsumi tried not to laugh. "Anyway, my current theory is actually that it was a witch or wizard. But I'll have to see the crime scene to ensure it wasn't a vampire or werewolf."

This time, Natsumi did laugh.

Fuyuki shot a glare at her. "Hey! Might I remind you I have more of a right to talk about this issue than you. I studied it, remember?"

Natsumi frowned. Just because Fuyuki had gone to some sort of fancy boarding school when he was younger and she had stayed at home to take care of their parents didn't mean anything.

Unfortunately, their parents had died. And although they left a small fortune for them to take care of themselves until Fuyuki and Natsumi got families of their own and married, she still missed them. She was sure her mother could have talked some sense into Fuyuki.

"You don't have to come with me, Natsumi, if you really don't like it," Fuyuki told her.

"Of course I do. You're my little brother and you are literally going into a town with a murderer on the lose," she said. "I want to keep you safe."

Fuyuki smiled. His sister might not have agreed with his viewpoints, but he still loved her and they were still close. "Thanks, sis."

Really, Natsumi had other reasons to come besides that. Two main reasons, really. She wanted to convince Fuyuki to give up this foolish dream, to start doing productive things for society instead of chasing ghosts, and she wanted to be away from home. She was tired of the people there badgering her about why she wasn't married yet at the age of twenty. She didn't want to settle down with some guy. She wanted to adventure around, too. But because she had chosen to be the responsible one out of the two of them and take care of her parents, she had missed out on her years of potential adventuring. And now the people of her town were badgering her to settle down and take care of _another_ person. She knew it was frowned upon for women to not be married or engaged by the age of eighteen, and being twenty, she was far above that age, but she didn't care. She didn't want to get married.

Fuyuki, however... He should have been home. "Think about the dangers of going into this town. What will happen if you get killed?"

"I'll be killed for research," he responded.

"Fuyuki... You're supposed to be back home. Don't you think your fiancee misses you?" Natsumi pointed out. Unlike herself, Fuyuki had a fiance. She was a nice girl that Natsumi had barely spoken to that he had met at school. She had heard from Fuyuki that she had actually financed this elaborate trip and expenses. She suspected that was the reason Fuyuki agreed to marry her, so he could have enough money for this research trip. Some sort of sad rich girl who had fallen for her idiot brother.

"She'll be fine. And I promise, this will be the last wild research trip I go on before I'm married," Fuyuki told her. "Heck, if it makes you feel better, if I don't find any evidence of the supernatural, I'll give it up."

Natsumi bit her lip. A raw deal - Fuyuki could fake evidence of the paranormal out of _anything_. Including missing tofu. Cloudy windows were ghosts to that boy. But she knew at least this deal was something he was intent on carrying out since he was getting married. He'd have to give up his childish dreams and grow to be an adult soon. "You promise?" she asked.

"Promise. This'll be my last wild research trip. And we'll stay safe. Don't worry. I have no intention of dying here," Fuyuki told her. Natsumi smiled.

She just had to make sure Fuyuki didn't find any leads on the supernatural. She was sure there wouldn't really be any leads on any sort of monsters, but Fuyuki might think there would be.

And there was still the fact that the town was dangerous. Sure, she had hired a bodyguard for their mission, but she was still worried.

"You really want to go on this research trip, don't you?" Natsumi asked. Fuyuki had been interested in this town for a while. And he was obviously dedicated enough to agree to marry some girl so he could finance this trip.

"Yep!" He hummed and continued looking out the window, writing down all the things he saw in his journal.

"The train is safe, Natsumi." Their bodyguard, or escort she had hired, dropped from the ceiling. Natsumi giggled. She hadn't really suspected the train wasn't safe, but she certainly felt a lot safer with a trained ninja with them.

Koyuki Azumaya was the third person accompanying them on their trip. And she was quite skilled and talented. Not to mention a personal friend of hers who she trusted with not only her life, but more importantly Fuyuki's. Getting Koyuki to agree to go with them had made Natsumi feel safer about going on this dumb trip.

"Koyuki, sit down with us," Natsumi requested.

"But... are you sure? Shouldn't I be on the job?" Koyuki asked. Ever since Natsumi and Fuyuki had hired her for this job, she'd started treating Natsumi more like an employer. After all, she very desperately wanted to do a good job to earn her pay. She was part of a dying ninja clan, and from what Natsumi had heard from Koyuki, she wasn't exactly sure what to do with her life anymore.

"You're my friend. Not just my bodyguard. You can sit down," Natsumi insisted. Koyuki sat down. "Koyuki, you can try to convince Fuyuki this trip is pointless, right? He thinks we're going to find some sort of supernatural murderer." She laughed at the preposterousness of the situation.

Koyuki rubbed her arm uncomfortably. And it wasn't just because she was on a train and she wasn't used to vehicles besides boats. "Actually, I believe in the supernatural, Natsumi," she said.

"What?" Natsumi dead-panned.

"See?" Fuyuki flapped his arms about. "Not everyone thinks it's foolish!"

"Spirits live throughout the world. But humans today don't worship them. They think that their power has brought the world to how it is today. So they've been forgetting to worship, and the spirits have been dying off. Our eyes aren't trained to see them. They don't show themselves to us," Koyuki explained. "At least, that was the belief in my clan. We tried to respect nature. Not destroy it for these fancy new train things."

Fuyuki frowned. "Actually, the supernatural I want to look into are other things, more like monsters and abnormalities... not really spirits."

Koyuki frowned, "That's what most people say." She squirmed in her seat, looking away from Fuyuki. Their beliefs were similar, but not enough the same, and for that they disagreed more than Natsumi and Fuyuki, whose beliefs were _completely_ different.

Natsumi looked back and forth between the two of them, but decided it wasn't time to put her opinion in the conversation. Maybe it was just time to rest. They'd be at the town soon.

* * *

The town of Lunaris only had one train station. And when the train finally stopped, Natsumi saw that there was nobody waiting at the station..

"All departing!" The conductor yelled as only Natsumi, Fuyuki and Koyuki's bags were loaded off. They were the only ones with a ticket for this town.

And the town was so eery and quiet. Nobody got back on the train. When Natsumi did spot a person wandering about the town out of the corner of her eye, they seemed to scurry away like a rat, frightened of the newcomer, hiding behind a building or something.

"It's so quiet," Koyuki realized. "I sense that people live here, but I feel only fear."

"Don't worry. I got papers from the king who governs this country giving us permission to investigate the murderers, so we have some jurisdiction in this town." Fuyuki tried to comfort Natsumi's queasy stomach.

"Wh-where do we go?" Natsumi asked, trying to grab onto Fuyuki's arm to protect him. Not because she was scared, of course

"There's a countess who governs this town. We'll see her first for lodging, and tell her that we'll be investigating the murders. Don't worry, I have a map." Fuyuki unrolled a map from his bags. "Let's go."

Natsumi nodded and carried her and Fuyuki's bags. They had a long walk ahead of them.

* * *

Luckily, the train station was in one of the denser parts of the town. Natsumi saw houses all over the place, but despite that, she didn't see many people. Maybe about fifty, max. Every time they approached a house, the shutters would slam shut, like everybody was terrified.

 _They do have a murderer on the lose. I guess they would be terrified,_ Natsumi thought to herself. She could see the countess's castle in the distance, the brick road they walked on leading to it. The streetlights seemingly leading them to the huge castle.

"Do you think she's nice?" Koyuki asked.

"Why don't we ask one of the locals?" Fuyuki suggested, in a good mood at being in the spooky town. It didn't seem to bother him how spooky it felt.

 _What locals?_ Natsumi thought to herself. But Fuyuki seemed to spot one walking around in the streets who hadn't run into any sort of store or home at the sight of them. It looked like a young boy, around Fuyuki's age, with long and messy red hair covering his eyes. He had this gloomy atmosphere around him.

"Hi there! Excuse us, I'm a traveler and I was wondering if I could ask you a question?" Fuyuki asked, approaching the boy.

"I'll kill her... That stupid, stupid woman thinking she can steal my man... Heheheh, she should be dead. And then I'll devour her and absorb her power... That's how it works, right?" The red-haired boy didn't even notice Fuyuki. He just walked past him, playing with a straw voodoo doll and stabbing pins in it. His language and words didn't make sense.

Fuyuki frowned at getting ignored.

"Well, these people certainly seem weird..." Natsumi kicked at a rock on the ground.

"Was that the murderer?" Koyuki asked.

"I... I don't know," was all Fuyuki could say.

* * *

They finally reached the iron gates of the castle. They could see the garden and landscape, overgrown grass, tangled trees that were barren, and many many bats.

It gave Natsumi the creeps. A shiver went up her spine.

"Still say there's nothing supernatural about this place? It's the classic scenery that some sort of monster would live in!" said Fuyuki.

"How do we get in, though?" Koyuki asked. The gates were not open.

A round, circular thing was next to the gate. It looked like some sort of button. But why would a button be on a wall? Natsumi had never seen that sort of thing. Painted above it were the words "Press Me."

 _Maybe this place has more technological advancements than home,_ she thought to herself. The streets hadn't really suggested that sort of thing, but this weird button thing looked like it had a purpose. Natsumi pressed it.

It squirted water at her. A little flag popped out of the wall with the words "Idiot" written on it and an arrow pointing to her. "HEY! That had no purpose at all!" Why the heck would some weird button be so terrible? "AUGH! I hate this place!" Angrily, Natsumi grabbed the gate and started shaking it.

"Sis!" Fuyuki tried to stop her angry outburst. Natsumi had quite the explosive temper.

"I think the real creature you should be researching is your sister..." Koyuki pointed out as the gate snapped open.

"THAT'LL TEACH THIS DUMB GATE TO CALL ME AN IDIOT!" Natsumi yelled. "Oh hey, the gate is open! And bent..."

Fuyuki's eyes were wide. "You might be right," he told Koyuki privately.

They walked down the path and knocked on the large doors.

 _This is it... We'll figure out who would install such a mean prank... who would be in charge of a town with such a suspicious atmosphere..._ Natsumi thought to herself. Despite not believing in the supernatural, she did imagine that whoever owned this town looked like some evil old lady, with long fingernails and who ate travelers for dinner.

The door opened.

"Sorry, I'm late! I don't get many visitors!" Instead of an old lady standing in front of them, a sweet-looking girl about her own age in a sleek dark purple dress stood before them. Her skin was pale, her hair was silver, her eyes were golden, and the most friendly smile was on her face.

Out-goingness seemed to seep from the girl's pores. Natsumi hadn't expected to see someone like that in this town.

"Um... we're here to see the countess," Natsumi said.

"Oh! That would be me." The girl giggled foolishly. She reached her hand out. "You don't look familiar. You could say, a new face?"

Fuyuki shook it vigorously. "Yeah, we're travelers. We have permission to be here by the king." He rolled out a document. "Sorry about your gate, by the way..." He looked over his shoulder at the broken gate.

The countess's eyes widened. "What happened to it?" she asked.

"My sister." Fuyuki looked at the ground, slightly embarrassed. "Your, uhhh, button kind of insulted her."

"Oh, I'm sorry... One of my servants was going to make it easier for people to open it on their own... I guess he might have installed something unpleasant. I'll talk to him later," she apologized.

Natsumi felt calmer, knowing that the countess hadn't been the one to insult her.

"Please come in! You're the second visitors I've had this month! It's such a nice surprise!" the girl clapped her hands excitedly. "I'll make some tea. You're going to love it here." Forgetting about the court order, she scurried off.

Stepping inside the castle, the atmosphere was nothing like what was outside. Everything was nicely furnished and clean and it actually looked quite bright and pleasant.

"Well, to be honest, I almost believed you for a moment about that sort of supernatural thing," Natsumi laughed. "But my fear at this castle was clearly a misunderstanding." She sat on a sofa with the rest.

The countess returned with tea, sugar, honey and all the sweet things. She set out a plate of pastries, smiling kindly. "Now... about why you're here. Are you looking for work, like the last person?"

"Someone else came here? I thought this place didn't get many outsiders," Fuyuki frowned. Was this mysterious spooky place just _rumored_ to be spooky?

"That's a rumor. All sorts of people enter this town looking for work and such," the girl laughed. "Just last week, I hired a new pageboy, for example."

Fuyuki frowned. In his disappointment Natsumi unrolled his document and showed it to her.

"My name's Natsumi Hinata, this is my brother Fuyuki Hinata. Over there is our bodyguard Koyuki Azumaya. With permission from the king, we've been authorized to investigate this town."

The countess looked at the document. "We have a king in this country?"

 _She's that airheaded that she didn't know there was a king? How can a countess not know there's a king?_ Natsumi kind of wanted to giggle. Maybe she was new to the job. Airheadedness wasn't always a bad thing. It just made her appear more friendly.

"My name's Angol Mois," the countess smiled. "I'm happy to have you. But why do you need to investigate this town? And how long will you be staying?" She was confused. "You could say, home sweet home's in tip top shape?"

Fuyuki laughed nervously. "Actually, I don't know if you're aware, but a lot of people have been disappearing in this town. News just got out to the outside world that the population has been declining a lot and that these people just disappear with no trace. They've been officially declared murderers," Fuyuki explained.

"So... are you someone from the army?" Mois asked. "Here to help keep us safe?"

"Actually... I'm a college graduate." Fuyuki didn't feel any less pride in telling her this. "I'm on a research trip searching for the supernatural, and I think maybe the murderers could be linked with something paranormal!" he declared.

"That's a fun little theory," Mois smiled. "I don't know if it has much truth or not, but follow your dreams!" She didn't shoot him down or confirm anything. It was enough to make both Fuyuki and Natsumi like her. "I'll authorize you to live in an empty house for free during your stay, then... I'm sorry about the rest of the townspeople. A lot of the people are more private folks," she said. "But I personally love visitors!" She smiled broadly and waved her hands in the air joyfully.

"I have no idea how such an unfriendly town manages to have such a friendly countess." Natsumi shook her head. "I'm glad _someone_ here likes visitors."

"What's up with your garden, though?" Koyuki asked. "It... It looks so spooky."

Mois frowned. "I'm the countess, not the gardener. My gardener has some stylistic choices and I support people expressing themselves. Whatever makes them happy, right?"

Natsumi frowned. Sometimes a person could be _too_ friendly. And if they were surrounded by people who were not their lifestyle reflected the unfriendliness. Not the friendliness.

"Anyway, do you have a map. I'll point you to your new home." Mois pointed to their new home, and Fuyuki quickly thanked her.

"Visit again soon!" she waved. "I'd love to speak again!"

And soon enough Natsumi, Koyuki, and Fuyuki were off to their temporary home.

* * *

"She was nice." Natsumi entered their new house. It looked a little dusty, but it was large. Two stories and plenty of bedrooms.

"Yeah... I was kind of hoping she'd be spooky..." Fuyuki frowned. "But it's good to have an ally when searching for the supernatural. And this house is nice, too."

Natsumi and Fuyuki had instantly trusted Mois when they had seen her warm smile. _I hope we get to see her more. It's nice to see such a bubbly countess,_ Natsumi thought to herself, cleaning what would be her bed.

"Guys..." Koyuki walked up to them, holding a journal. "I... I think I know why this house is so empty."

"Why?" Fuyuki asked. Koyuki showed them the name on a diary she held up.

"Isn't this the name of someone who disappeared? Wasn't this the home of one of the people declared murdered?"

Natsumi got off her bed immediately. "Well... this makes the house more creepy..."

"This is great!" Fuyuki smiled, not seeing the seriousness of this situation. "That means the murderer might strike twice! We might be able to catch the creature! And then I can take it home for research."

Natsumi shook Fuyuki. "Luring a murderer to us isn't exciting, Fuyuki!" she yelled. "Get a grip, this is dangerous! The person in charge of this town might be nice, and the only good thing we've encountered, but the rest of this town is messed up! We are living in the house of a murder victim!" She was shaking as she shook him. "Please... just act responsibly about this."

Koyuki put her hand on Natsumi's shoulder to stop her outburst. "Natsumi... It's all right, I promise to protect you. That's why I'm here. Against a murderer, a trained ninja should be able to beat them."

Natsumi felt calmer and she let Fuyuki go. But she still felt mad at her brother for being foolish and idealistic about this whole thing.

"I'm going shopping for some groceries. I'll check out the town while you two clean and try not to get murdered," she sighed in annoyance.

Fuyuki nodded and Natsumi slammed the door behind her.

* * *

Shopping was pretty easy. After they had seen the countess, the people had started walking on the streets again. Despite the townspeople's unfriendliness, they seemed quite happy to take her money.

They were like every other group of people. Typical.

And just as usual, people had tried to make conversation with her by asking her where her husband was. These were probably the most typical group of people she had met. Nothing mysterious about them.

It annoyed Natsumi.

Holding a bag of groceries, Natsumi headed home, passing a street corner and unlit alleyway. Next to her, a tan-skinned man dressed in red leaned against a wall. She tried to ignore him. He was just another part of the scenery. But unlike people she usually passed on the street, he spoke to her.

"Hey." He addressed her in a gruff voice.

Natsumi held onto her bag tighter. Despite looking mostly normal, the blond-haired man had one unusual feature - a large scar across his left eye.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" the man yelled. Natsumi tried walking faster. "You're a traveler, right? An outsider?"

She stopped for a second. How did he know? Did the people of this town have that much of a tight-nit community?

"What?" she asked, annoyed. The man was closer to her - his face was right in front of her. And he was glaring.

"You shouldn't have come to this town. You've made the stupidest decision of your life," he hissed.

Natsumi's blood ran cold. Nobody had spoken to her about the disappearances or the murderers if they were native to the town. Not even the countess had seemed that aware of them. But this man seemed to acknowledge the danger.

"I'm aware. But don't worry. I'm tough. I'll be fine," she gruffly told him back.

"Doesn't matter how tough you think you are. You'll be dead soon, like all the rest of the travelers. I'm warning you... If you value your life, leave. And take your two friends with you. You don't want to be here," he told her.

Natsumi felt fear bubble in her stomach. She wanted to ask more, but before she could speak to him, he quickly turned away and darted down the alleyway, into the darkness away from her.

 _Was he warning me, or was that a threat?_ she wondered. His words sounded like a warning, but the way he spoke sounded like a threat.

She knew this town was dangerous, but this was the first time that someone that wasn't herself had said so.

And having someone else say it made it all the more scary.

* * *

 **I hope you liked the first chapter.**

 **So just a recap, because I know it can be hard to keep track of characters in an AU, the characters that appeared this chapter were Natsumi, Fuyuki, Koyuki, Angol Mois. Technically Aki and Haru were mentioned but they are deceased so they won't show up again.**

 **Tamama and Giroro appeared also appeared.**

 **Sorry I wrote this to pretend I was being festive when I really wasn't.**

 **Please review!**


	2. Investigation

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Yet another chapter. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Apologies about the title again.**

* * *

Natsumi closed the door behind her to their new temporary house. She was still breathing heavily from her encounter with the strange blond man.

 _Should I tell Fuyuki what happened?_ The only reason she was slightly scared was because of how threatening his voice had been. Like he was implying that he was going to _make_ her regret her decision to enter this town.

His threat couldn't have just applied to her, though. It had to apply to Fuyuki as well. And that meant Fuyuki was in danger.

 _If I told him, though, would he think I was just paranoid? Frightened, even?_ she wondered. To Fuyuki, she had always been the strong one. But deep down, she got frightened of things just like anyone else - like when her parents had died of sickness - or about the future. She was normal. But Fuyuki still looked up to her like she was incorruptible.

 _No... most likely he'd just be excited by the threat. Think it meant something._ It was best not to tell him. The man with a scar over his eye could remain a secret, for all she cared.

She'd survive this town. She'd prove him wrong.

"I'm home!" she yelled, making sure Fuyuki and Koyuki were still there.

"Great!" Fuyuki ran down the stairs, almost tripping. Koyuki caught him, though. "I've decided what our first step for catching the monster will be. We're going out into town and interviewing the local populace. They must have some clues on these disappearances, after all."

"Being with others will be safer, too," Koyuki reassured Natsumi.

Natsumi frowned. She didn't particularly want to find another excuse to run into the blond man. _Please... let's not encounter him._ "I suppose... but just you watch, Fuyuki. They'll all say this supernatural stuff is idiocy!"

"I'll prove you wrong," said Fuyuki.

Natsumi set down the groceries and put them away, and soon enough they were going back into town.

* * *

It was harder than Fuyuki had predicted to get someone to talk about the disappearances. Most of the populace just seemed confused, like they weren't aware they were happening. That or they only wanted to talk to Fuyuki about purchasing stuff.

Eventually they came upon a resident that looked at least a bit friendly. He wasn't avoiding their eye contact.

"Travelers. That's rare." The man was spinning a quill around his finger. He had white hair and blue eyes. Despite looking twenty-two, he looked more like a perfect illustration.

 _Pretty boys are always all looks and no brains... Great. They also are super full of themselves._ Natsumi had been a big fan of them in her teenage years - she had tried to even hit it off with a few of them - but it had never ended well. They usually never liked her personality, and now she was fully suspicious of them. They were all ego.

"Hello," Fuyuki told him friendly. "I'm Fuyuki."

"Saburo," the resident greeted. "You're pretty cute."

"Umm... thanks?" Fuyuki scratched his head. He didn't know how to react.

"So are your friends, though. You're all pretty good-looking," Saburo complimented, winking at all of them. "If you ever want a lunch date with me..."

"He's engaged." Natsumi stopped that thought right there, putting her hands on Fuyuki's shoulders.

"Your funeral, then." Saburo shrugged. "What about you?" He turned to Koyuki. "You also engaged?"

She avoided eye contact. "I'm on a mission."

Natsumi shook her head. They hadn't approached him to flirt with him. "Ask your questions, Fuyuki," she ordered.

"Isn't it polite to introduce yourself first?" Saburo smiled, glancing at Natsumi. Natsumi frowned. Had to make everything about him, didn't he? Pretty boys were always the same.

 _Yayoi and Satsuki always said I'd end up marrying someone like him. If they were here, they'd think we'd be a perfect match._ She didn't want them to constantly hook her up with people, though. She wanted her own life. Not to get married. Maybe her disinterest in Saburo was fueled by personal anger, but she just couldn't get along with him.

"Koyuki Azumaya," Koyuki told him.

"Natsumi Hinata," Natsumi reluctantly greeted.

"Good. That wasn't too hard now, was it? Now, what were your questions?" Saburo asked.

"I'm here to investigate the murderers in this town... I'm searching for the supernatural. Have you seen anything unusual... like a werewolf or something?" Fuyuki asked excitedly. "Or aliens?"

Saburo looked blankly at Fuyuki for a moment. Then he laughed. "That's a hoot!"

Fuyuki looked embarrassed. "Why?"

"No way did anything like _that_ commit the murders. That's just weird... unrealistic, even! But I suppose you can believe what you want." Saburo wiped a tear away from his eye from laughing.

Natsumi frowned. Even though she agreed with Saburo's beliefs, she still felt overprotective of her brother. Saburo shouldn't have been laughing, even though she laughed at him a lot herself. That was a thing for siblings, not strangers.

"What do you think did it then?" Koyuki asked.

"Just my two cents, but I think it was some wild animal. I've heard the forest around here is pretty dangerous," Saburo responded. "And it makes sense. People are too scared to go in the forest for animal control, so maybe there's some sort of large thing in there. Maybe a boar."

Fuyuki frowned. He didn't like that believable idea. It wasn't as cool as some sort of supernatural creature. "Thanks for your input," he said blandly.

"No problem. Feel free to come to me if you need anything else. I know most people here aren't that friendly to travelers, but not too long ago I was just like you. An outsider to this town. But I got the hang of things," said Saburo.

Natsumi pretended he was saying "blah, blah, blah" in her head. He was exactly the sort of pretty boy a younger her would have fallen for. But she was more mature.

"Thanks for your help... If we need you, we'll tell you." She quickly dragged Fuyuki away from Saburo before he could start lecturing on why aliens did it instead of an animal.

"You got enough information, Fuyuki?" Natsumi asked. "His theory seemed pretty sound."

Fuyuki shook his head. "I'm sure we can find more people willing to talk!" He was determined. Someone would agree with him, right?

* * *

They managed to find another person who didn't run from the sight of them. He seemed to have a happy smile on his face and was coming out of a bakery. Natsumi didn't mind leading Fuyuki over to there because it smelled nice.

It was honestly the safest she had felt in this town. She loved the smell of sweets. And the friendly black-haired gentleman was carrying a nice loaf of bread in the shape of... well, himself.

It was pretty weird.

"Hi!" Fuyuki ran up to him. "Mind if I ask you some questions?"

"An interview?" The man gasped. "Gladly, anything for someone who might be a fan!"

"A fan...?" Natsumi asked suspiciously. "I don't recognize you."

The black-haired man frowned. "You don't?" he asked. "Well then, let me introduce myself. I'm a retired sergeant in the army. A war hero." He smiled proudly.

"What's your name?" Natsumi's eyes just kept on narrowing, suspiciously.

"My name?" The guy took a step back, like he had never been asked that. "Keroro. My name's Keroro. I'm Sergeant Keroro," he repeated over and over again.

"It's nice to meet you then, Sarge." Fuyuki smiled. Although Keroro looked older than him, he had this sort of friendly atmosphere about him. Maybe it was how childish he seemed to be carrying bread that was shaped like himself. "I'm Fuyuki Hinata. Over there's my sister Natsumi and over there is my escort Koyuki."

"Are you someone famous, too?" Keroro asked, confused.

"No. I'm just a college graduate," he admitted.

"That's still pretty good. I never graduated school." Keroro tried to be supportive. Fuyuki shot him a smile.

"Anyway, I came to research the supernatural. I believe they have something to do with the disappearances in this town... Care to tell me any evidence you might have about the murderer?" he asked.

Instead of laughing, Keroro just frowned. "Disappearances? What disappearances?" He sounded completely confused. He honestly didn't know about the murders going on.

Natsumi frowned. The pit in her stomach filled with discomfort got larger. Red flags always went up in her head when people covered something up, or honestly didn't know about the danger they were in.

It was well-known outside this place that there were disappearances going on. But too many people seemed unaware.

"You... You do know that tons of people have been disappearing from your town from some kind of murderer, right?" asked Fuyuki. But Keroro just shook his head. Instead of answering the original question, he couldn't get over the fact that there _were_ disappearances in the first place.

"I think you're mistaken. This town is completely safe," he told Fuyuki politely. "After all, the countess does such a good job of protecting us. Have you met her? She's so nice and sweet."

Before Fuyuki could answer, he could hear yelling from inside the bakery.

"NO SHE ISN'T! SHE DOESN'T DO ANY GOOD! Damn woman... Seducing you..." Fuyuki glanced into the bakery, the door wide open and saw the red-haired boy he had seen the other day. He looked like a pile of messy misery.

Fuyuki laughed nervously. That guy was definitely weird.

"Don't mind Tamama. I don't know what he has against Mois. But you should really try his bread. It's great." Keroro changed the subject. He didn't want to talk about murders anymore.

Fuyuki frowned. What was _with_ this town?

Keroro bit off his bread-head. He didn't seem to mind.

* * *

Out of an entire town, they had found maybe three sociable people: Saburo, Keroro, and Angol Mois. Fuyuki hadn't gotten any answers. The populace mostly agreed with Keroro that they didn't believe that disappearances were happening, and if they did, they agreed with Saburo and thought that some sort of wild animal had done it.

"Let's go back to Mois," Fuyuki suggested. "At least she'd give us solid information and supported my quest to find the supernatural."

"I think she's honestly just as ignorant as the rest of the populace. She looks new to the job," Natsumi put in.

"I want more of that nice tea," Koyuki put in, agreeing with that they should visit Mois. So they followed the street up to the hill with her castle.

Before getting close to it, Natsumi heard a familiar voice.

"HEY!" It was that gruff voice of the scarred man. She tried to walk faster, but Fuyuki stopped her.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning around.

"Why didn't you leave town like I told you?" the man demanded.

"You know him?" Koyuki asked looking between Natsumi and the blond guy.

"Barely," she hissed under her breath.

Fuyuki looked confused. "What do you mean, leave town?" he asked. Natsumi hadn't told him anything about this.

The man got closer to Natsumi, like she was the leader of the little group. He ignored Fuyuki and Koyuki and grabbed her arm.

Koyuki lurched for her knife as he pushed Natsumi against a wall and glared at her.

"I can deal with this," she hissed under her breath.

"You _have_ to leave town. You're all weak... You won't survive this place. If you care about their lives... Your life. You will leave. Or so help me, I'll make you," he hissed, glaring down at her.

Natsumi matched his gaze. She wouldn't let Koyuki stab this guy for her. She'd deal with this herself.

"I'm not weak," she told him. "And your threats can't do anything to me." With a mighty blow, she brought her knee up into his crotch, kneeing him very hard.

"AUGH!" He fell over, releasing his grip and curling up on the ground in pain.

Fuyuki winced for a minute. Koyuki didn't understand why Natsumi wouldn't just let her stab him.

"We can go now. Let's avoid this guy." She didn't want to talk anymore about her encounter with him.

"But... he admitted the town was dangerous..." Fuyuki looked down at him. Could this guy be their lead?

"He probably thinks he _is_ the danger. He's threatening us," Natsumi explained. "He doesn't want us here." She pulled Fuyuki away from the groaning man. "Let's go. Let's see Mois."

Fuyuki nodded and walked away from him, ignoring him like his sister had requested.

"W-wait..." the man groaned. But they just walked away.

* * *

The gate was still broken from Natsumi's handiwork. In front of it to make sure only people who were allowed in went into the castle was a guard, or what looked like a pageboy.

The pageboy looked relatively confused. A small hat covering his hair as he looked at the ground, smoothing his trousers and jacket.

"H-hello!" he greeted awkwardly as the group approached. He smoothed his short, light blue hair. He looked down, avoiding eye contact with them.

 _He must be the new person looking for work that Mois mentioned,_ Natsumi realized. He didn't look like he had much experience or knew what to do.

"We're here to see the countess," Fuyuki greeted. "Do you handle visitors?"

"Yeah, it's part of my new job," he answered, speaking gruffly and looking down.

"So your the pageboy who's new to town?" Natsumi asked. The boy gave a small nod. He looked very nervous.

"I'll... I'll see if she's accepting visitors and bring you to her immediately, Fuyuki. I promise," the pageboy answered.

Fuyuki gave the boy a strange look. "How do you know my name?" he asked.

The pageboy started shaking. "Uhh... Um... The countess told me to be on the lookout for you."

"Oh! That makes sense!" Fuyuki smiled. "What's your name?"

"Momota. It's Momota," the pageboy answered, turning away from him.

"Nice to meet you!" Fuyuki smiled friendly. He frowned when Momota avoided his eye contact and ran toward the door, knocking on it. When nobody answered it, he opened it on his own.

"So, Momota, you're new to this town, just like us, right? Haven't you noticed how strange it is?" Natsumi asked.

"Seen any murderers?" Koyuki asked.

Momota ignored both of them. "So... uh... F-Fuyuki... What brings you to see the countess?" he asked. "It's almost like you're in love with her!" He gave a nervous laugh, but then glanced shyly at Fuyuki waiting for Fuyuki to tell him it wasn't true.

"She's pretty nice, isn't she? I'm sure that would be easy to think," said Fuyuki. "She's definitely the most friendly person here. You're lucky you got a job from her."

"Fuyuki!" Natsumi flicked the back of his head with her finger. "Must I remind you to just say _no_? You have a fiancee. That you will be marrying when we get home. Remember?"

"Oh yeah!" Fuyuki laughed, like he had forgotten.

Momota looked like he was going through a lot of distress. He just looked sad.

He lead them inside.

* * *

Eventually Momota located the countess playing chess in a large living room. "Mistress, F-Fuyuki... and, uhhh, some others are here to see you," he told her.

Mois looked up from her chess game. "Nice to see you again." She placed her piece down.

The person across from her cleared the board of all its pieces so they couldn't see who was winning.

"Who's this?" Natsumi asked, pointing to the purple-haired man. He was in a uniform, so he looked like a butler.

"This is Kululu, my head butler," said Mois smiled.

"Ku, ku, ku. You the ones who wrecked my amazing gate?" he asked distastefully.

Natsumi frowned. So it was _he_ who had made that jerky button!

"He's my trusted helper. Don't worry about him." Mois could sense that Natsumi already didn't like him.

"Ku, ku, ku. Yep. That's me. Trusted helper. You know you can trust me. KU, KU, KU, KU!" He started laughing sinisterly and anything pleasing about his face quickly mangled itself into a creepy smile. The atmosphere around him was definitely terrifying and sinister.

"Uhhh..." Natsumi pointed to him, wondering how to ask Mois why she had a butler like him. He was probably the one who made that creepy garden, too.

Fuyuki frowned and cleared his throat, taking a step away from Kululu. "So... um... Mois, I've been looking into the disappearances of the people in this town and - "

"Wait, that's the reason you came here? Ku, to look into those disappearances? Ku, ku, ku. The last person who came to look ended up dead. I'd suggest you leave unless you want the same to happen to you." Kululu flashed them a smile. "Although, maybe it would be rather nice to get rid of another batch of weird traveling troublemakers..."

 _I don't like him,_ Natsumi decided. She could easily decide she didn't like him more than than the scarred man. That was just how bad Kululu was.

"Kululu... it's not nice to say those things," Mois scolded. Kululu sighed in annoyance.

He walked over to the corner. He was just a servant, after all, and he didn't have the authority to speak over the countess. "Take care of your business with the countess." He shot a glare at Fuyuki.

"Well, I wanted to ask about the townspeople." Fuyuki cleared his throat. "Most of them don't even acknowledge there are disappearances happening... Why is that?"

Mois crossed her hands and looked solemn for a moment. "The people of this town know, deep down, that people are being murdered. But they're frightened. And for that reason, they deny the facts. They don't want to face the reality that is death. They believe if they ignore it, it won't happen to them. If they don't speak of it, death won't come to get them. They... They see this town as eternal peace, ignoring the harsh realities of it because of fear." Her words were calm, but sincere.

Fuyuki nodded. He was no psychologist but decided that made a lot of sense.

"But death greets everyone eventually. It doesn't play favorites. Inevitably it will pass over them, too. They think they can avoid it, but they can't. And for that, their hearts are heavy," Mois explained. She looked up at Fuyuki. "Did I do a good enough job of explaining it?"

"You did fine," Fuyuki told her. Her explanation had given even him the chills. There was nothing paranormal about it. It was just so real...

"Ku." Kululu cleared his throat to draw attention to himself. "Permission to ask a question?" He glanced at Angol Mois, his master.

"Permission granted," she responded.

"So you've come to find out what's happening and find the murderer of whoever is causing these disappearances, but what do you plan to do when you find them?" Then he added, "If you ever catch them, that is. Ku, ku, ku."

Natsumi didn't like the way Kululu spoke of them, like they'd never catch the murderer. "We discussed that. Since Fuyuki - and I apologize for this - is searching for the supernatural, and I tend to look on the more realistic side, we've decided to do different things depending on if they are a human or a supernatural force," she explained, looking over at Fuyuki. "If it's human like I believe, we'll bring it to the government for execution."

Kululu nodded, listening.

"And if it's a supernatural creature like I believe, we'll bring it to a laboratory and figure out more about it through experimentation," Fuyuki answered.

Kululu's nodding stopped and he frowned. He turned to Fuyuki and glared. "You have no right to make those decisions about a murderer in our town. Our town has a government in which we defer judgment to the countess, who owns this land." His eyes slipped into a glare. "If you caught something here, you'd have no right installing your own judgment and deciding their punishment. Ku ku, it's childish of you to think that you could drag them away for whatever purposes you decided were just."

"Kululu..." Mois tried to silence him, but this time he didn't take her scolding.

"In fact, you have no right to be here doing your petty and childish investigation in the first place. Ku, ku, ku. As head butler, I formerly boot you out." He grabbed Fuyuki by the arm. "You get the other ones," he ordered Momota as he began dragging them out.

"Hey!" Natsumi yelled. She glanced at Mois for help.

"I'm sorry..." She smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "He gets like this sometimes. Come back soon!" she told them. Even though she was the countess, she acted like she had no actual power.

Soon enough, Kululu had booted the three of them out.

"Ku, ku, ku. _Don't_ come back soon. Unless, of course, you want me to install an _actual_ boot to boot you out. Or I could always use someone to meld into a tree... Ku, ku, ku, ku!" Kululu laughed and slammed the doors behind him.

"He was _hands down_ the worst guy I met in this town," said Natsumi.

"Agreed." Fuyuki picked himself up. "You... don't think with the way he was acting... that he's the murderer?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," she hissed, believing it just because she didn't like him. She could see it.

"It would make sense... I feel sorry for Mois, though. She's a bit dense. I'd be able to see how she wouldn't realize she's harboring a murderer," said Koyuki.

Fuyuki shook his head. "No. The murderer has to be something more powerful than just a jerk. Nobody's caught them after so many disappearances. It's got to be something more than that." He didn't want to suspect Kululu.

But Natsumi did. She already suspected him. Was he what the blond man had warned them about? Or was that guy just a jerk, too?

She wasn't sure, but she didn't like either of them. They were all jerks. And she'd punch that stupid murderer's face.

* * *

 **People in this chapter of course are, Fuyuki, Natsumi, Koyuki, Angol Mois, Kululu, Keroro, Saburo, Tamama, Giroro.**

 **Sorry no Dororo yet. =(**

 **Please review.**


	3. Being Bled

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Next chapter is done!**

* * *

Natsumi didn't sleep in as much as her brother, but she did sleep in more than Koyuki. It was early morning when Koyuki shook her awake, trembling.

"Natsumi, Fuyuki." Her voice was shaky as the ninja girl addressed her employers.

"Five more minutes..." Fuyuki begged. She ignored him.

"I woke up to do some of my morning run and went out in town, and five more people have gone missing, just from last night," she informed.

Natsumi bolted up from her bed. "What?" So... even when they were in town, the murderer had struck again.

"From what I eavesdropped on from the townsfolk they were all people who were on last week's train who had come from outside of town to seek employment," Koyuki told them.

Natsumi paused. Koyuki always got more information from eavesdropping than Fuyuki did by just asking. One of the perks of being a ninja, she supposed.

Fuyuki sat up in bed curiously. "So... they were all outsiders that disappeared? Do... Do you think maybe the whole town is in on it?"

Koyuki shook her head. "I don't know."

"Are you sure they didn't just leave?" asked Natsumi. "Did they really disappear?"

"All the people said was, 'Oh dear it's happened again.' I think they really did just disappear," Koyuki responded.

"If it's recent, we might be able to locate them or their bodies." Natsumi didn't try to do the impossible like catch the killer. Instead she worried more about the victims.

"Let's search for clues! Like some blood or a body part," Fuyuki suggested. He quickly got ready to head out. "You stay here, Koyuki, in case anyone needs to contact us because they know we're on the case."

Natsumi opened her mouth to protest. The reason they had brought Koyuki along was to protect them. Leaving her here wouldn't do any good.

"We'll be fine, Natsumi. I'm mostly going to question that guy, Keroro. He seemed pretty nice. Even the type that I could make a friend of," Fuyuki smiled. Natsumi's protests waned.

"Fine. We're going to see that idiot. We'll be back soon," Natsumi promised Koyuki.

And with that, the two of them left.

* * *

Koyuki hated being confined to the house for duty. It was boring. She opened the window to air out the house and give it some fresh air.

The windows were huge. Big enough for a person to get through. _If the murderer comes, I'll just slice them,_ she decided.

Looking out the window, she heard a skittering sound on the rooftop.

 _Ah. It seems I will have some excitement after all._ She took up a stance with her blade, smiling as legs descended from the roof and swung in to the house.

She sprung forward to attack the person breaking in, but she stopped once she saw what they were carrying.

"I come in peace." In front of her was a man wearing a black mask that covered his entire head, with intricate designs on it. "I heard you can help." In his arms he carried the bleeding pageboy, Momota.

"Put him on the bed, quickly. I'll bandage his wounds," Koyuki remarked. The masked man gently put Momota on the bed.

Koyuki rushed over to him and ripped open the part of his shirt that was bloodied the most. She quickly found two large puncture wounds in his waist. "What happened?" she asked as she tore off some bandages from a roll with her teeth.

She didn't hear an answer. When she turned around, all she saw was the edge of the masked person's cape leaving the window. He was gone.

 _Who was that?_ Koyuki wondered. His smell was familiar, but since it was mixed with so much of Momota's blood she couldn't recognize him.

* * *

Koyuki tried to fix the rest of Momota's wounds while Natsumi and Fuyuki were away. Ripping open the pageboy's shirt to investigate his wounds, she discovered something very unusual. Something that made her feel bad about opening up his shirt.

Momota's eyes fluttered open to see his shirt opened. "Eek!" He screamed as he covered his breasts, and glanced up at Koyuki.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, as she looked at the frightened pageboy. Momota frowned.

"So... you saw that I'm not who I say I am..." He sighed.

"Well, I didn't expect that you would have breasts." Koyuki laughed nervously.

"Nah, it wasn't your fault. I was pretending, after all. And I guess I did it well for a time?" he answered. "Just...Please don't tell Fuyuki..."

Koyuki tilted her head in confusion. Momota was dizzy from blood loss, yet the first thing on his mind was his identity being exposed to Fuyuki. "Do you know him?" Koyuki asked.

Momota frowned and nodded. "I... I do. You see, my name isn't really Momota. I just said that to fool him. My name's Momoka. Momoka Nishizawa." She smiled proudly.

Koyuki looked confused.

"The famous heiress Momoka Nishizawa," Momoka continued, trying to prod Koyuki to remember her.

"Sorry, I'm a bit out of the loop about economics. I don't keep up with the times," said Koyuki. Momoka frowned. "But I won't tell Fuyuki anything about you. I don't even know why you were pretending to be someone else."

Momoka frowned. "I suppose I'll have to tell you why."

"You really don't have to. You've lost a lot of blood and really shouldn't be talking..." Koyuki tried to tell her. But Momoka ignored her.

"You see, I'm Fuyuki's fiancee. We went to school together and... well... You could almost say it was love at first sight. At least for me. He remained pretty oblivious of my feelings for some time," she explained.

"Well, at least you're engaged now," Koyuki reassured her.

Momoka explained her sorry tale. "But we're only engaged so he could finance this research trip! He went to my family and begged us for help financing it. My father agreed, under the condition that he marry me, since he knew I had been hopelessly in love with him for eight years and had had no luck... And my Fuyuki agreed happily because he loves research. I... I just wanted to know for sure if he loved me. I wanted to find out if he would find someone else he truly loved while he was away, since he only agreed to be with me for the money. I set up a scheme to arrive at this town before him and get a job as someone else so I could see Fuyuki through someone else's eyes. See how he acted to people that weren't me... And see if he ever spoke of me or if he fell for someone else on his trip."

Koyuki continued cleaning her wounds. She felt kind of sorry for the girl. Fuyuki was the intensely dense type. He was probably still ignorant that Momoka even liked him.

Momoka was about to cry, but Koyuki put a finger to her lips.

"Don't cry. It will exert too much of your energy. I promise to keep your secret. It'll be okay. So sleep. Please. I'll protect you," she swore.

Momoka smiled. At least she knew she had one ally here. So since she was still weak, she sunk into the bed and slept.

* * *

Fuyuki and Natsumi barged back into the house, sighing.

"We didn't get any information at all. But Keroro was sure nice and fun. We built all sorts of toys together!" Fuyuki smiled.

Natsumi crossed her arms. "It was a waste of time."

"Well... staying here wasn't a waste," said Koyuki. "One of the victims was returned here. And when they wake up, you can question them."

Fuyuki's eyes shone as he went upstairs to see the victim. Momoka was sleeping soundly, her shirt back on along with her jacket to conceal her breasts. "Momota? The pageboy?" He looked worried that someone they had encountered had been captured.

"Yes. A masked man came and dropped him here. He left before I could question him," Koyuki responded.

"Were there any wounds?" Natsumi asked.

Koyuki nodded. "He was covered in blood. There were two puncture wounds on the left side of his waist, along with two puncture wounds on his neck."

Fuyuki's eyes glowed. "You know what this means, Natsumi? Puncture wounds on the neck? Vampire - "

Natsumi flicked him. "SOMEONE IS INJURED AND FOUR PEOPLE ARE PROBABLY DEAD!"

Fuyuki's excitement waned in the face of the horrifying reality.

"You can question him when he awakens," Koyuki told them.

Fuyuki pulled up a stool to watch over Momoka and stay by her side and wait for her to awaken.

* * *

Momoka soon woke up, and like a dream, the first thing she saw was Fuyuki in front of her.

"F-Fuyuki?" she asked.

"Are you all right?" he asked, pretty concerned.

"Now I am," she smiled.

"Koyuki's told us a bit about who brought you here and about your wounds. Would you mind... only if you're feeling up to it... telling us what happened to you?" he asked.

Momoka nodded. "I'm sorry, I don't remember much," she apologized. "But I'll try... for you."

"So what happened?" said Fuyuki.

"I was going back home to my quarters after work, and then... I don't remember what happened. I'm sorry. But I awoke upside-down in a room lit with bright golden lights. The wound in my neck was already there, and there was a tube coming out of my side as I was hung. My blood was being drained from my body. I think I saw others, but they weren't... They didn't talk, they just moaned... like zombies." She shivered. "I quickly blacked out again after that."

"What about the masked man? Who was he?" Koyuki piped in.

"He unhooked me. Apologized and said he only had time to take one. He said he was a thief by the name of Mutsumi who was searching for riches but had found me instead. He took me in his arms and I blacked out again after being unhooked," Momoka explained.

Natsumi smiled. "This Mutsumi has a link to the crime, then... Either he's an accomplice or a hero. Most likely, he just helped you, and thank god for that. He sounds like a good guy." She smiled. She didn't like thieves, but Mutsumi had saved a life. Good for him.

"You don't know where you were?" Fuyuki asked. Momoka shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. She tried to sit up, but she was woozy.

"Let him rest," Koyuki requested. "He almost died."

Fuyuki nodded and pat Momoka's head. She smiled dreamily and quickly went back to sleep.

"So... the victims were being bled before death..." Fuyuki frowned at that information.

"What kind of terrible person could do something like that?" Natsumi asked.

"A monster! You know, like a vampire!" he eagerly remarked. "I should dust off my vampire research books. It looks like we probably have one on our hands..."

Natsumi sighed. Fuyuki's excitement at something disgusting could not be waned. But what they were dealing with was serious.

"I think I'll go visit Mois. Tell her that Momota will be staying with us while he recovers. She'll want to know what happened to her pageboy," Natsumi decided. She didn't need to be around when Fuyuki went all Occult Researcher.

"I'll go, too!" Koyuki suggested.

Natsumi shook her head. "You protect Momota and Fuyuki. I'll be fine. Mois is the nicest person in this town, by far." She smiled as she said this.

Koyuki frowned. Ditched again. Natsumi waved and left.

* * *

It was easy enough to get to Mois's manor. Without a pageboy, Natsumi just opened the door to visit her.

"Natsumi! What a surprise!" Mois smiled kindly. "To what can I owe the visit?" Kululu glowered, standing behind Mois as she sipped some tea.

"Kuu, ku ku ku. Did you break in?" He was asking the real questions.

Natsumi sat down across from Mois, ignoring him. Kululu was a pest. "Five people have been reported missing."

Mois's eyes widened slightly and her gazed slipped down to the floor in sadness. "I heard the rumors..." She frowned. "I'll look into confirming the disappearances."

"But Fuyuki and I found one of them. It's your pageboy, Momota - he's injured badly. I wanted to tell you he'll be staying at our house while he heals up," Natsumi explained.

Mois's face changed to shock. She had not heard the news about Momoka. "Momota's injured?" she whispered. Her hand shook a bit. Natsumi grabbed it and squeezed it, trying to calm her.

"It becomes all the more devastating when it's someone you know who's been captured, isn't it?" Natsumi asked. Mois nodded.

"I had no idea... And he's at your house now? How... How did he get there?" she asked. "Did he see the killer?"

Natsumi shook her head. "All we know is the poor boy was being bled by a monster of a person. All he remembers is being hung upside-down and a masked thief saving him."

"Bled?" Mois asked. "What do you mean?"

"There are puncture wounds in his neck and waist. He was being bled before death," she reported.

Mois's face contorted in fear. "How... How absolutely terrible... The poor boy! Oh no..." She seemed so distraught and concerned.

"What did your brother think of this?" Kululu asked, piping in. "Ku. Some bullshit explanation, no doubt."

Natsumi frowned. Nobody but _she_ could make fun of her brother! "He thinks it's a vampire," she answered simply.

Mois started crying. "I feel so bad for Momota! Please make sure he gets the best treatment," she begged. Natsumi hugged her.

"You're a good person and a good friend. I'll make sure he does," she promised.

Kululu glared at Natsumi with an utter dislike, taking in the information she presented him with. Natsumi glared back as she cradled Mois's head.

* * *

After calming Mois's fears, Kululu lead Natsumi out of the manor. Once they were out of ear-shot, Kululu began speaking to her.

"Ku ku ku. So do you believe it's a vampire?" he asked.

"I don't believe in that sort of superstition," Natsumi responded, trying to avoid eye contact. Kululu's glasses creeped her out. What kind of person had glass over their eyes? Must have been some sort of fashion thing. And everything about him just had this sinister sort of aura.

Before she could stop him, Kululu had pushed her against the wall of the hallway. A torch was fastened to the wall space above her and Kululu put his arms on the wall threateningly, blocking her exit strategies.

"Ku, ku, ku. What would you say if I bit you right now?" he asked, giving her a sinister smile. When she looked into his green eyes, instead of anything playful, all she saw was evil.

He smiled, and she noticed how sharp his canines were. A drip of sweat trickled down her neck. Had they always been that sharp?

She knew he just wanted to make her frightened, to prank her. And she didn't want it to work, but she was frightened at how close he was to her. She tried to struggle free, but Kululu just clicked a button on the wall.

"Ku, ku, ku. Don't struggle," he hissed at her threateningly. Natsumi started sweating as thick, tight metal wires wrapped around her. She didn't know if Kululu had made them himself, but she suspected he did.

Her heart beat accelerated. She was frightened. She tried desperately to struggle free. _Am I going to die? Is he going to kill me?_ She didn't believe in vampires like Fuyuki did, but at the moment all she felt was fear.

She was trapped, and Kululu's mouth was getting closer and closer to her neck

 _HELP!_ she wanted to scream, but her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't speak.

The front door swung open. Kululu's head turned to see whoever had interrupted him.

"I brought the meat you ordered. You better pay me now instead of later." Natsumi heard the familiar gruff voice of the scarred man that she had kicked in the crotch. She turned and saw her scarred savior.

"Giroro," Kululu hissed. Giroro's eyes widened when he saw Natsumi all tied up.

He walked forward, carrying a deer over his shoulder. He frowned. "Let that person go, Kululu," he growled.

"Natsumi a friend of yours? Because she's a friend of ours. She was just visiting Mois, so I thought I'd give her a parting gift..." Kululu was promptly punched in the face by Giroro.

Kululu fell to the ground. "Ku, ku, ku. Fine, I got it." He pressed a button, freeing her from her restraints. Natsumi gasped, but didn't drop to the ground. She had to stand tall, literally in this case. She was near the two most terrifying people in the town, after all.

Giroro continued to glare at Kululu.

"Don't worry, I'll pay you now... Ku, ku, ku." Kululu rubbed his cheek. "What's with the glare?" Natsumi and Giroro both glared at him. "It was a joke. Ku. Geez. What, you thought I'd actually bite her? That would be gross. You weren't even here for the conversation, Giroro. We were talking about her dumb brother and how he thinks vampires exist. They don't, of course, but I thought, - ku ku - maybe for a moment I can make this girl believe me because guess what? She's an idiot!"

"Hey!" Natsumi rubbed her neck. "I'm not an idiot!"

"You pressed the idiot button I installed, didn't you?" Kululu asked. "Don't feel too bad. I keep re-installing it and every single time, Giroro falls for it."

Giroro looked ashamed for a moment, but he tried to continue glaring at Kululu and looking cool. Natsumi looked over at the guy she now knew as Giroro and noticed that his hair was wet. It was true. He had fallen for the button once again.

"So you were you pranking me?" Natsumi asked. Her heart was still beating and she was still scared, though. Was that really a prank?

"Ku. Yeah. Do you think vampires really exist? No. Of course they don't! Super-geniuses like me exist, though. And super-jerks like me exist. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu cracked up. Giroro threw the deer at him next.

"Fine. I'll get your damn money." Kululu quickly gave Giroro his pay. Giroro turned around and grabbed Natsumi by the arm.

"Let's go," he ordered.

"I can leave on my own - " Natsumi tried to insist, but Giroro quickly dragged her out of the manor away from Kululu's terrible laughter.

* * *

 _Why is he helping me?_ Natsumi wondered briefly as Giroro dragged her away. Her previous encounters with him had been terrible, and the last she had seen him, he was moaning on the ground from her kneeing him in the crotch.

"So your name's Natsumi, huh?" he asked.

Natsumi nodded.

"Well then, listen closely Natsumi. Although I doubt you will since you haven't listened to me before. A strong rambunctious spirit like your own is admirable anywhere but here. You need to listen and do what I say, not do your own thing," he growled, his fingers digging into her arm. Natsumi grit her teeth. "Do not go back there. Kululu is dangerous."

"I could have figured out that on my own, you know." Natsumi pried his hands off of her and then rubbed her arm. "Why did you help me back there?"

"Don't jump to conclusions. It's not because you're cute or anything. I was just in the right time and place and saw that what Kululu was doing was wrong. I hate that guy and would take any excuse to sock him in the jaw." Giroro grinned, rubbing his hand.

"At least we can agree on one thing," Natsumi nodded.

Giroro grinned, but then shook his head. "You have to take your brother and your friend out of this town. This place is dangerous. Really dangerous. You have to leave. Leave now," he growled.

"I'll stay in this town as long as I want!" she insisted. "Besides, your scare tactics won't work on me. They didn't work on others. That Saburo guy's been living here for years and have you kicked him out of the town?"

"Well... uhh... no... But I'm surprised he's lasted so long, honestly... I don't really like him..." Giroro trailed off, speaking under his breath. Natsumi crossed her arms and frowned.

"Well, then, _I'll_ be staying however long I want. This town isn't dangerous, besides the murders. The murders that I intend to solve." She looked determined.

Giroro sighed. "You don't understand. This town is dangerous. Before I lived here, I used to make weapons for the army, guns and stuff. I even trained with them and tested them. But I didn't get this scar from something like that..." Giroro pointed to the scar covering his face. "No. I got it from this town. This town was more dangerous than playing with guns." He paused for a moment. "Although I personally believe guns aren't that dangerous at all... But I mean..." He cleared his throat. "That's a different conversation."

Natsumi looked at him for a moment, this time examining the scar across his left eye. Was he just trying to scare her away because he didn't want the same thing to happen to her? "What happened in this town?" she asked.

"The forest is dangerous. I was attacked by a giant wolf in it," he told her.

"But... uhh... don't you work as a hunter?" Natsumi waited for him to correct her. She had seen the meat he was carrying. "Don't you still go to the forest?"

"Already got a scar. How much worse can it get? I'm experienced now. I can handle it. And I have a friend looking out for me." He shrugged. "You however, have no one," he told her. "You need to leave before something takes you out. You don't want to be here."

Natsumi knew the spiel. But she wouldn't take it. "Thank you for your concern." She tried to be polite, "But I think I'll learn the lesson you didn't. Don't put my eye next to giant wolves." She said simply.

Giroro frowned. As Natsumi walked away, he just looked distressed.

She wouldn't listen to him.

* * *

While Natsumi was away, Fuyuki didn't do anything that interesting. He visited the bakery Keroro had suggested to him again.

"Koyuki said Momota needed food to replenish his blood. I'll get him some bread," Fuyuki decided. The person who ran the bakery, Tamama, usually seemed like a pile of misery. But when he came in that day, Tamama was humming and looking happy. Instead of messy hair that covered his eyes, his hair was in a French braid and he looked calm and happy.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked Fuyuki.

"I'd like some bread. I'm caring for someone injured who needs to replenish lost blood," Fuyuki explained.

"Someone lost some blood?" Tamama asked. "Who?"

"Momota. A pageboy who works for the countess." Usually the words the countess set Tamama off on a rant, but instead Tamama looked concerned.

"The newbie, right? He was pretty nice. I like him." Tamama smiled. "I can make you a personal delivery of some sweets. Sweets are better than bread. And he needs snacks to heal! Don't worry, Momota! Tamama will be there to the rescue!"

Fuyuki smiled. "Thanks." At least one thing had gotten better. And they had a lead.

Everything would get better in this town soon.

* * *

 **Okay so people who appeared in this chapter were, Tamama, Fuyuki, Koyuki, Natsumi, Giroro, Saburo, Kululu, Angol Mois, Keroro and Momoka. I'm probably going to stop after Dororo appears with that because you get the idea.**

 **Please review!**


	4. Wolf

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter. We finally start getting into the monster part of the monster AU.**

* * *

Natsumi didn't tell Fuyuki about the prank that Kululu pulled. It would just convince him more about those stupid vampires.

But from her talk with Giroro, she did have a lead now on what to do, where to search. She suggested it the next day when she was sure Fuyuki had questioned Momota as much as he wanted.

"I think we should explore the forest," she suggested. She knew Giroro had said it was dangerous, but there was something he was hiding. And multiple people had suggested that the killer was some large animal. That clearly wasn't true, but it was still worth the exploration.

"Great idea! I'll get my stuff and pack a backpack - "

Natsumi cut him off. "Hold up! I've heard it's really dangerous. I think only Koyuki and I should go. You should stay behind and look after Momota."

Fuyuki gave her puppy-dog eyes. "Please?" he begged. "The full moon is coming up tonight and..."

"You think it would be pretty to see in the forest?" Natsumi asked.

"No! Werewolves always appear at the full moon in books about the paranormal!" Fuyuki smiled. "It's prime werewolf-hunting weather."

Natsumi crossed her arms and frowned at him. "But then Momota would be all alone."

"I can look after him." Tamama, who had taken up delivering sweets to Momoka, was sitting in the corner, chomping on cake. Cake that he had brought for Momoka but ate himself. The two of them, Momoka and Tamama, had really hit it off.

"See? Tamama can look after him," Fuyuki said. "So can I _please_ go?"

"I promise nothing bad will happen to Fuyuki. I can take care of him," Koyuki assured Natsumi.

Natsumi sighed. Fuyuki wouldn't take no for an answer, "Fine. You can come," she agreed. "Let's get our camping gear ready and go."

Fuyuki smiled and got ready.

The three of them soon left.

* * *

Momoka watched Fuyuki go with longing. Even as someone else, he didn't pay as much attention to her as she wanted. "Thanks for staying, Tamama," she said.

"No problem," said Tamama.

"But why would you sacrifice your day for me?" Momoka asked.

"Because I understand your pain," he told her. "I see the way you look at him. It's unrequited love. And I know that pain all too well."

"You do?" Momoka asked.

He nodded. "I look at my Mr. Sergeant almost every day like you look at Fukki."

"So... you, too, are in love. What did he do to win your heart? Did he pick up your books?" Momoka asked.

"He saved my life," said Tamama. "He was a visiting war hero from the army. I wanted to get some ingredients for my bakery and went out to the forest, but then a pack of wild wolves attacked me! And Mr. Sergeant... well... he valiantly fought them off! He asked me if I was okay and my heart was stolen by him ever since. He left to go back to war after that. Eventually, he returned just for me! He said my bread was just that good that he moved into town!" Tamama squealed and hugged himself.

"That's so romantic and sweet..." Momoka wiped a tear from her eye. "Why do you say it's unrequited?"

"Well... I thought things were going well between us... But the Countess realized how great he was, too. That terrible woman sunk her teeth into my man and started cozying up to him! She's been dividing his time with me, and my Mr. Sergeant... Well... I mean, why would he choose me?" He sighed. "After all, I'm a boy."

"That must be really hard." Momoka wasn't aware that the Countess was in love.

"But you understand it, Momota. Since you're the same," Tamama smiled. Momoka's own smile fell. Tamama liked her because he felt they were similar with unrequited love due to her false pretense of being a boy.

Momoka didn't know how to tell him. She just silently pat his head, deciding not hurt him.

But she knew the pain of unrequited love, too. And she could understand at least that.

* * *

Natsumi, Fuyuki, and Koyuki headed to the forest. There were signs warning people away from it, but that didn't stop them.

Before they got to it, they saw Keroro walking across the street.

"Sarge!" Fuyuki waved, yelling his nickname for the sergeant. "We're heading to the forest to explore. You're a local, so do you want to help us?"

Keroro looked confused, pointing at himself and realizing Fuyuki was addressing him. "We have a forest?" he asked. He looked at the sign. "So we do! I had no idea! Must be my terrible memory again." He laughed awkwardly. "Sure, I suppose. What you looking for?"

"The killer responsible for the disappearances. Or werewolves. Whichever comes first." Fuyuki smiled.

Keroro laughed. "You're so funny, Fuyuki." He paused. "But it might be dangerous. It's a good thing you asked me to accompany you. I am a retired Sergeant, after all." He bounded in front of them like he was their leader and began to march off, letting them follow the way.

* * *

They eventually entered the forest. There was a small forest path, but besides that, it was very dense. Natsumi knew that if they left the path, they'd be fine with Koyuki to lead them, but if she wasn't there, they'd easily be lost.

Koyuki smiled. "It reminds me of home."

"You don't think the murderer could be along this path?" Fuyuki asked.

"Makes perfect sense to me," Keroro answered, leading them along the path. Fuyuki happily followed them.

Eventually, the path widened, and they saw a small little hut. Hanging down from the roof was a bell. Giroro knelt on his knees in front of it, praying.

"It's a shrine..." Natsumi realized. It made her feel calmer that this forest actually had something in it.

Giroro got up and turned around. "Wh-what are you doing here? I told you multiple times this forest was dangerous! Only an idiot would not heed my warnings!" _An idiot like me._ He didn't speak the last part out loud. Natsumi was just as idiotically brave as he had once been.

"I thought you were hiding something. So I decided to check it out." Natsumi crossed her arms. "If you can survive this forest, I definitely can."

Giroro frowned. "No. No you can't. You'll regret coming here!"

Natsumi and he tossed retorts back and forth as Fuyuki and Keroro watched. It was Koyuki who broke up their fighting.

"This shrine isn't from this region. It's from homeland," she recognized. "It's a shrine that houses a spirit, right?"

Giroro paused. "How'd you know?" he asked, confused.

"My people were very spiritual people," she answered, stepping up. "May I offer a prayer here?"

Giroro was caught off guard. "Umm... of course," he responded.

Koyuki knelt down and rung the bell. "Please stay safe little spirit, live and blossom," she prayed. Giroro stayed silent as she did it.

"I'm sorry about her..." said Natsumi. "Although her belief is more of a cultural thing instead of freaking out about vampires like Fuyuki, she still believes in this stuff like spirits. It's a bit odd, but you should be respectful."

"It's not a problem." Giroro shushed Natsumi with his hand. Natsumi wanted to bite it. "Why did you do that, um...?" Giroro asked. He didn't know Koyuki's name so he couldn't use it.

"Koyuki." She flashed him a smile. "I come from a region that used to belief in spirits. Because my people were dying out, we assimilated into society. They've forgotten to pray to the spirits, all except me... But when I was little I heard that if a spirit is forgotten, it dies out," she explained. "Do you follow those beliefs, too?"

He nodded. "You're right about it."

"It's nice of you to prayer to it, Mister." She smiled again. "You're keeping him alive."

"Yeah, I didn't know you were such a softie, Giroro! I just thought you were coming to this forest to hunt," Keroro teased.

"Oh shut up, Keroro." Giroro took his hand off of Natsumi and pushed Keroro away. His tone seemed more playful than with Kululu, though. They clearly were on better terms and were at least somewhat friends. Giroro turned to the rest of them. "Well... before you leave the forest, if you want, you can all pray. Like she suggested."

"I'd love to." Fuyuki was happy enough to follow tradition. He knelt down.

Natsumi crossed her arms. "If I kneel down, you'll probably try to pick me up and chuck me out of this forest." She glared at Giroro.

"I can't deny that I was thinking about it," he admitted. So she didn't do anything. Giroro turned to Keroro.

"Sorry, I already forgot what we were talking about. Whoa! What building is this?" Keroro was totally confused. Giroro rubbed his face in annoyance.

"I can't believe I'm your friend." He sighed. "At least you have good military expertise."

"Yep. I am a great hero, after all." Keroro rocked on his heels.

As Giroro and Keroro were talking, Natsumi finally offered a prayer. She didn't bend down, but she did offer one.

Afterward, she turned to Giroro, interrupting his conversation with Keroro. "So why were you visiting this shrine? Same tradition as Koyuki?"

"My best friend lives here," he answered simply.

"Best friend? I thought that was me!" Keroro cried for a moment. Giroro didn't comfort him.

"I never said you were. You're just a _friend_ friend," he said. Keroro cried more.

"Does your friend take care of the shrine?" Fuyuki asked.

Giroro shrugged, not answering.

After everybody got up, Giroro glared at them. "Now. Out of this forest." He grabbed Natsumi and Fuyuki by their collars and tossed them lightly. "You don't want to be here when night falls."

His previously understanding gaze now looked murderous. Fuyuki and Natsumi scrambled away.

* * *

Once they were out of Giroro's sight, they got off of the forest path into the denser parts of the forest and didn't heed his warning. Instead, they set up camp to stay the night.

"He's hiding something. And I'm going to find out what," Natsumi decided. She knew it was dangerous, but she was going to stay the night, anyway.

"Yeah! I'm going to find a werewolf!" Fuyuki smiled. Keroro rubbed his arms as the other three set up camp.

"Listen... maybe Giroro's right. I mean, there are signs all over the place to stay out of this forest at night and there's been reports of wolf attacks and I don't really feel like dying..." He trailed off.

"You don't have to be here then," Natsumi said simply. "Leave."

Keroro nodded. "I-I'll make sure Momota and Tamama are doing well. Fuyuki... Stay safe. Don't get hurt," he begged.

And with that, Keroro was gone, running off out of the forest at top speed. So much for being a war hero.

"You know, with the full moon getting out like this, these are prime werewolf conditions!" Fuyuki chattered excitedly as Koyuki made a small fire. "I sure hope I'll finally find one!"

"Have you _ever_ found one, Fuyuki? In your years of searching?" Natsumi asked.

Fuyuki cast his eyes downward. "Well... not yet," he admitted. "But maybe tonight..." With that wishful laugh, he looked up at the sky. The moon was almost out.

Natsumi heard footsteps in the forest. She hoped it was Giroro's supposed friend instead of him. She didn't really want to see Giroro again.

Alas, her luck was terrible. Giroro stepped out of the bushes. "Wh-what are you doing here? I told you to leave! I told you multiple times to leave! You are going to be killed here!"

"Is that a threat? You can't hurt me," Natsumi told him.

Instead of his usual anger, Giroro just started screaming. "You are going to die! This place is dangerous, please, please I'm begging you, just listen to me. I don't... I don't want the same thing to happen over again. At least run away, get a head start. You only have a minute."

He sounded panicky, but Natsumi held her ground. "I'm not going to get a scar. Don't worry. We're looking out for wolves. And we have a ninja with us. Nobody can get hurt."

" _I_ WILL HURT YOU! Don't you understand? Your brother gets it! Why can't you?" He pointed to Fuyuki, who just had this knowing smirk.

"Werewolf weather," he spoke quietly and satisfactorily. And just as he predicted, the moon's light finally came out.

Giroro screamed. At first he got larger, four times as tall. Monstrous in size. Then his hands extended into claws.

And Natsumi just stood there, furrowing her brow in confusion. She didn't believe in the supernatural. And when it was happening right in front of her... It just couldn't be real...

Giroro's claws dug into the ground as the humanoid part of his face extended into a snout. Fur grew all over him and his clothes ripped to shreds. The blue eyes that had once been filled with anger - well - they were still filled with anger, only now they were just wolf eyes.

He snarled. His sharp pointy teeth barred as he locked his gaze right on Natsumi. The only feature of his that she could recognize was the scar across his face.

There was still the loud, heavy moaning of the pain of the transformation. As Giroro leaped toward her to tear her into pieces, Natsumi made a split-second descion, not yet registering the werewolf in front of her.

"Protect Fuyuki! That is your primary order, Koyuki!" she yelled. "Don't worry about me!"

Koyuki moved fast, grabbing Fuyuki and rushing off.

"I was right! I saw a werewolf! Oh my god, I saw a werewolf. He was a werewolf! Wasn't that cool? Hey why are you dragging me away..." Fuyuki tried to beg Koyuki to let him go, but Koyuki knew the danger. She had to do what Natsumi ordered and keep Fuyuki safe. Even if her best friend might be slaughtered by a werewolf.

"I'm sorry, Natsumi," she whispered.

Giroro's teeth were barred sharp as he tried to claw at Natsumi. She knew the smartest decision was to run, but she still couldn't quite process what was in front of her.

"Stop it!" She tried to reason with him. He tried to pummel her, getting her on her back on her him. His claws were ready to slice cleanly into her stomach.

The smartest decision she made was trying to reason with him only once. When that didn't work, she gave up on it. She kicked him in the stomach, very hard, but he was much larger than her and didn't budge an inch.

He did let out a mangled howl of pain, though.

 _Okay, okay, calm down, Natsumi... Someone just turned into a wolf in front of you. Turns out Giroro wasn't lying about this place being dangerous. Turns out your brother was right. You can panic about this later and freak out about how weird this is. What did Fuyuki ever tell you about werewolves?_ She wasn't sure if it was vampires or werewolves she wasn't supposed to get bit by, probably both.

She rolled away as Giroro tried to slice into her. Curling into a ball ,she got out from under her.

Giroro snarled, looking at her murderously. His tongue rolled around his teeth, licking up his saliva in excitement for his next meal.

At full speed he launched at her, his mouth wide open. With all of Natsumi's arm strength, she grabbed the bottom of his chin and the top of his snout and tried to push it back closed. She was careful to not get her fingers sliced by his pointy teeth.

Putting her whole body into it, she tried to keep his snout closed as he growled. "Stupid wolf! I don't care how supernatural you are! I will defeat you!" she proclaimed, forgetting about his claws.

His front claw launched at her, forcing her to let go of his mouth. When his mouth opened again, she knew she was in for trouble.

She around him on the dirt as quickly as she could. He was big, so it was harder for him to maneuver. He tried to grab her, but she grabbed his tail first and pulled and kicked him.

A wolf probably had more stamina than her, but she would tire him out. As soon as he turned around, she took up a stance.

She would fight. And although she might not win, she would fight to tire him out. It was a fight to buy time.

And she would not get bitten or scratched. She might have to run a bit. But she needed to occupy him.

"You won't beat me. My name is Natsumi Hinata and I don't care if you are a werewolf, I can still fight you. I'm stronger, and so is my will!"

He launched himself at her and the intense battle continued.

* * *

Koyuki carried Fuyuki piggyback-style through the forest. She couldn't just leave Natsumi with the wolf, but she knew the townspeople would likely not believe them about the werewolf. Nor would they be able to help.

So instead she put her hope in faith. She brought him to the shrine that Giroro had said his friend lived in.

She let Fuyuki go.

"Can I go back to the werewolf now? Man. I feel sorry for him... Natsumi's going to kick his butt." Fuyuki winced. His first werewolf and it would probably be dead after Natsumi.

Koyuki bent down. "She's in danger. And I don't have the power to save her, even as a ninja, but the spirit here might." She put her hands in prayer position. "Please save my best friend. She's being attacked by a wolf... Please, spirit, lend your power." Koyuki rung the bell and waited.

The bell resonated throughout Fuyuki and Koyuki's ears, and for once Fuyuki was surprised as the second supernatural occurrence happened.

The bell glowed along with the shrine, and Koyuki stepped back. A silhouette of light appeared in front of her and materialized into the shape of a man.

Soon, the light subsided to reveal a light pink-haired man with fluffy light blue ears. His eyes were a kind, sky blue and he held a blade by his side. He wore a mask. What was perhaps the most unusual were the nine fox tails behind him, spread out like peacock feathers.

He was a nine-tailed fox spirit.

"I'm sorry I'm late. But don't worry, Lady Koyuki, I have heard your prayers," he promised.

"How... How do you know her name?" Fuyuki asked.

"I'm a spirit. And her prayer was so pure that I was able to hear her name, as well," T=the spirit answered."It's a pleasure to meet both of you. I am Dororo." He paused bowing after his introduction, but then changed to be more serious. "Now, let's go to Giroro."

Fuyuki smiled. A werewolf and a spirit in one day? How much better could this trip get?

* * *

 **No Kululu or Angol Mois or Saburo this chapter sorry.**

 **But I hope I made it up to you by introducing Dororo.**

 **And actual supernatural things.**

 **So Giroro, Natsumi, Fuyuki, Koyuki, Keroro, Tamama, Momoka and Dororo were in this chapter.**

 **Please review!**


	5. Explanation

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Half way through the story! YAY!**

* * *

Holding onto either of Dororo's arms, almost magically Koyuki and Fuyuki were brought to the clearing where Natsumi and Giroro were fighting in.

Parts of Natsumi's clothes were torn, but not a drop of blood fell of of her. She was breathing heavily as she glared at the wolf in front of her.

"H-had enough?" she demanded.

Giroro panted tiredly, but didn't fall. He couldn't back down from this challenge.

"Stop." Dororo appeared between them, dropping off Koyuki and Fuyuki.

Natsumi stood up straighter. "What the hell?" she swore, looking up and down the nine-tailed fox creature. Dororo ignored her. Instead he walked up to Giroro and pat his head.

Giroro's murderous eyes turned happy as he panted and wagged his tail. Dororo giggled.

Fuyuki broke in excitedly. "Natsumi! Natsumi! Not only are there werewolves in this forest there are furries too!" he exclaimed.

Natsumi rolled her eyes, holding her arm from her tough battle. "As if a werewolf isn't a furry, either."

"Dororo not a furry," said Koyuki. "He's a nine-tailed fox. An ancient spirit who is aiding us." She and Dororo smiled at each other.

"Giroro doesn't like humans when he's a wolf. Their scent drives him into a fury. I've calmed him for a time, but it would be best if you leave this forest for now," Dororo told them calmly.

"But... But... I want to learn about the werewolf," Fuyuki whined.

"Tomorrow. You can return tomorrow when he's human. I will see you then, and then we'll speak to you," Dororo promised. "Right now I need to stay by Giroro's side. I'm the only companion he can stand when he's like this, we run through the wilderness together," said Dororo. "So please, for my friend and for your safety, have some patience and return tomorrow."

Although Natsumi hadn't listened to Giroro, Dororo was a lot calmer, so she nodded. "We'll be back tomorrow then. And I expect some answers."

She was still confused who the heck he was.

* * *

The three of them left the forest and went back to town. On their way back, they ran into Saburo.

"You okay? There's a bunch of tears in your clothes..." he pointed out. Natsumi frowned.

Saburo was a resident of this town. And he hadn't told them anything about the weird things going on. She might have been tired from her fight, but she was also mad. She pushed him angrily, grabbing his arm and squeezing it.

"How long have you lived here?" she growled.

"Five years," Saburo answered. She narrowed her eyes. He'd have to be an _idiot_ to not know about the forest.

"Then you must have known about that weird furry creature in the forest with nine," she grumbled. "Why didn't you tell us? Why did you just laugh at Fuyuki about him mentioning werewolves?"

Saburo just stared at her blankly. "I don't know what you're talking about." He quickly squirmed out of her grip and walked away, not giving her an answer.

* * *

When they got back to their house, Natsumi plopped down on a chair, tired out.

"What happened?" Momoka asked.

"I fought a wolf," Natsumi tiredly answered back. Tamama stood up.

"I... uhh... better go back to my bakery. Make sure that terrible pastry thief hasn't robbed it. He claims to steal from the rich and give to the poor and keeps telling me I'm rich in sweets! Darn Mutsumi! Nobody can have too much cake!" Tamama growled, his hair falling out of his braid and to its more messy form. He walked out the door.

At that very moment that he left, the window flew open. The caped masked man that had saved Momoka's life jumped in and put a letter on their desk.

"Hey! Somebody catch him! We need to question him!" Natsumi yelled. She was too tired. But Mutsumi just put a finger to his lips and jumped out of the window, disappearing.

"Sorry... we were too slow," Fuyuki apologized. He took the letter that Mutsumi had left. "He left us a this, though."

"Read it to me," said Natsumi.

And so Fuyuki read, " _I heard you asking about the nine-tailed fox spirit that lives in the forest. If you've encountered him it's likely you now know that this town is not what it appears._

" _I do not want to be in danger myself, so I can only tell you through a letter about what the truth is. This town is a safe haven for supernatural creatures. I do not know who's human and who isn't, but I would suggest to trust no one. The only ones I know for sure aren't monsters are you three - Fuyuki, Natsumi, Koyuki, the pageboy staying with you, and of course myself. But trust no one else. Who knows what these monsters are capable of? After all, this isn't a safe haven for us - it's for them. Sincerely, Mutsumi."_

Natsumi listened closely. She wanted to deny that this town could be filled with supernatural creatures. She had met a few friendly people - Keroro, Saburo, and Angol Mois - but at the same time, she couldn't deny the spirit she had seen and the werewolf she had fought.

"Knew it. Knew this was the lead I was waiting for." Fuyuki grinned.

"So everybody else isn't human?" Momoka asked. "What about Tamama? He was with me all night and he was super nice... It can't be..." She frowned.

"I don't know. We can't trust this masked person. We'll ask Giroro and Dororo about it tomorrow," Natsumi promised.

"You should rest up. You fought a lot. Did you get bitten or scratched?" Koyuki asked.

Natsumi shook her head. "I was careful."

"What's going on?" asked Momoka. "You're going to visit who tomorrow?"

"Giroro's a werewolf, and Dororo's a spirit who helped us," Koyuki explained. "They promised to explain things to us tomorrow. But... you should probably stay and rest."

Momoka frowned. She was always getting ditched while they investigated. Yet, she was the one who had almost gotten murdered - not them.

* * *

After resting up, the three went back to the forest to get their promised explanation from Dororo.

Giroro was waiting for them in the clearing, a new set of clothes on and by Dororo's side. Instead of being gruff when they approached, instead he looked incredibly apologetic.

He went up to Natsumi. "I... I am so so sorry. I know it's no excuse that I couldn't control myself. But I should have tried harder, done better. I almost killed you... Heck, I might have even turned you into a werewolf forever..." Giroro grabbed Natsumi's arm to worriedly inspect it for scratch or bite marks.

Natsumi looked a little shocked at the sudden change in Giroro's personality. He had bags under his eyes from not sleeping.

"It's fine," she assured him. But he looked so worried. "At least you can't tell me to leave town again, right?"

"No. I still think you should leave town very much." Giroro crossed his arms. "Are... Are you hurt?"

"No. I kicked your butt. I was winning our fight, don't you remember? I didn't get bitten or scratched by you at all. I made sure of it." She grinned.

Giroro's eyes widened in shock. "You... were strong enough to keep me back? You were able to protect yourself?"

Natsumi nodded. " _Duh_. Why wouldn't I be?"

Giroro stepped back away from her. He was shocked a person like her even existed that was so immensely strong. He could feel his heart pounding from... exhilaration? Excitement? No... Admiration. He admired Natsumi.

She was stronger than he had expected. He hadn't ever met a warrior like her. And he could feel himself gazing at her in admiration, so he turned away.

 _Truly impressive. I haven't met anyone else like her. This just confirms... that feeling._ Giroro tried to swipe it away, but he already knew what it was. It was love. But he couldn't afford to fall for a human just because she was strong enough to totally challenge him in every way and kick his butt. It was still dangerous for her. "You should still leave town now that you know of its dangers. You may have won one fight, but if you're around the next time I transform... I might turn you into a werewolf, too. And then you'd be trapped here forever. Forever a monster."

"Giroro..." Natsumi stepped up to him.

"No. You have to understand. When I was a human, I was just as strong as you, but then I transformed. All I want to do is ensure that nobody dies or gets harmed by me. Can't you understand that? I'm not a villain, I'm a warrior, and I want to protect humanity, since I am no longer part of it."

Natsumi squeezed Giroro's shoulder. "I promise I'll fight you off every time, then. I can keep my humanity. I'm a warrior too."

This was just enough to make Giroro break down. He crumpled to the ground, sobbing at those words. It was words he had wished to hear for so long.

"Oh dear... I better comfort him..." Dororo went forward to comfort Giroro, but Natsumi got there first. She hugged Giroro from behind, knowing how to deal with people crying. Fuyuki had cried a lot, after all.

"There, there... Don't worry." She hugged him. Giroro just sobbed a lot. She patted his head and smiled, a lot more soothing and calm than her usual warrior nature. She wasn't all fighting, she was more than that.

It took a while to calm Giroro down as Natsumi held him, but eventually his crying subsided and he just looked up at Natsumi with eyes of wonder and this look of utter happiness.

Fuyuki was sitting on the ground. Now that he could hear things again since Giroro was no longer loudly sobbing, he was ready to get an explanation of this town. "So... you said you'd explain this town and the supernatural creatures." He cleared his throat to get everybody's attention. "This morning we got a letter from someone named Mutsumi. He said everybody here was monsters. Is that true?"

Giroro shook his head. "No, it isn't. There are a lot of monsters, but many humans, as well, living among the populace. They just wondered in, I guess."

Fuyuki looked disappointed. He wanted everybody to be monsters.

"The number of humans has been dwindling, though. Every month there's some new disappearances. Only humans seem to vanish, and only now people have started asking about it, wondering what happened to them," Giroro told them.

Dororo listened patiently. He wasn't actually that aware of what was happening in town, being a spirit that only came out occasionally and all.

"So... do you think it's some sort of monster who hates humans?" asked Fuyuki.

"I do. But that's my personal theory," said Giroro. "I don't know much about the disappearances."

"So... who's a human and who's not? Do you know what sort of monster anybody is?" Natsumi asked, her head still whirling around the fact that this was a town of monsters.

"This town is a safe haven for monsters, under the rule of the Countess," he said. "So I can assume most people are monsters. But besides Dororo and myself, I only know two of them specifically and what they are."

"Please be vampire..." Fuyuki begged. That would be a great suspect for the murders! He scooted closer, excited to learn what the monsters were.

"One is Tamama. You know the baker? I don't visit him often. Not too fond of sweets myself. But he's not exactly secretive about his supernatural powers. In fact, I'm pretty sure if you had just asked him upfront, he would have answered you. He's like... a male banshee I suppose. Rare in his old clan. Males were only born once every thousand years. I think he calls himself a wraith, though," said Giroro. He gave a nervous chuckle. "Don't get near him when he's in a bad mood. He lets out these ear-splitting screeches he calls 'Tamama Impacts' and has a lot of dark energy."

"A wraith..." Fuyuki frowned. He hadn't heard much about those, but he was happy to learn about a new monster. "Wait, is Momota okay? We left him alone with him!" He quickly became worried.

"Awww... Are you worried about him?" Koyuki asked teasingly.

"Yeah! He's our friend, right?" Fuyuki asked. Koyuki frowned. He hadn't taken the bait.

"Tamama's harmless, mostly. He's usually pretty nice unless he's in one of his 'jealousy moods,' " Giroro told him. "Just a normal monster seeking haven."

"What about the other monster that you know of?" Fuyuki asked, pleading that it was a vampire.

"That would be Kululu." Giroro answered. "He's a - "

"Vampire?" Fuyuki asked eagerly.

"Yes, actually. He is," Giroro nodded, surprised that Fuyuki knew.

Fuyuki did a fist bump. "Cool!"

Natsumi rubbed her neck. "Wait... you mean when he pretended that he was a vampire and almost bit me... He was actually going to bite me?" she asked, terrified.

Giroro solemnly nodded. "I told you he was dangerous."

Her face turned white. That was _way_ scarier than fighting a werewolf. She could have had her blood sucked by a creep!

"What about the humans? Do you know that anyone's definitely human?" Koyuki asked curiously.

He nodded again. "I only know two that are definitely human, like you guys. But one of them usually stays away from the forest, and the other I care very little for. Saburo and Keroro are the only humans I know," Giroro explained.

Fuyuki let out a sigh of relief. So at least Keroro was human. And Saburo could be trusted as well.

"I... I just don't understand. Supernatural creatures are real? What the heck is up with this town?" Natsumi asked, rubbing her temples.

"I already told you, it's a safe haven for monsters. Humans aren't safe here, however," Giroro growled. "My brother and me... We were once human like you. And we weren't safe." His eyes looked down-cast.

"Ohh story time! Does anyone want some natto? It's good for the soul!" Dororo clapped his hands. Everybody frowned. They didn't want it, because natto was gross.

"I guess I'll have some," Koyuki agreed, ready to listen to Giroro's story. Dororo was happy to get her some.

"How did you turn into a werewolf, Giroro? And why'd you come to this town?" Natsumi asked, trying to ask the question politely.

"I came to find my brother. My brother... Garuru was just like you guys. He wanted to find out the mysteries of this town. He'd hear that outsiders never left it, so he entered. He wanted to bring right to the town, since it was under the king's proclamation, and turn it into something more just. More safe. He didn't return for months... so I become worried. I came here to find him. I wanted to save him... But it was too late." Giroro frowned.

"When I found my brother, I didn't recognize him. He was a werewolf in this forest and we fought... He bit me and sliced my face, giving me this scar... And, well, you know how the rest goes." He looked sad. "I was transformed, my humanity was gone."

"That... That must have been terrible." Natsumi squeezed his hand. His own brother. Couldn't have been more emotional than that.

"For a while I was traumatized, unable to cope that these creatures were real and that I was now one of them. I locked myself up in my new house, terrified of what I was. But eventually the fear waned, I accepted my harsh reality, and I made a home here. My brother was a victim just like I was, and for a time we were happy..."

"Oh no... there's more, isn't there?" Natsumi asked.

"However, werewolves are odd. Our blood... Well, it's human most days. Apparently it tastes awful, but it's still edible. Eventually my brother and I decided to do what we came here for. We started looking into the disappearances of other humans, of murders... He was much more dedicated than I. I was still fearful of myself... but since he was part human, one day he disappeared." Giroro paused there.

"Oh... Oh noo... The murderer caught him," she realized.

"I found him, though. The trail was easy to follow. The trail of blood. I found my brother's neck in Kululu's mouth as he was sucking him of his blood. A silver dagger was in his chest. Kululu didn't even need to kill him to get a drink. He just did it because he could. Vampires don't need to kill unless they're really thirsty. But my brother was murdered by that damn vampire. Afterward, Kululu dropped the body at my feet and smiled at me. He spat out my own brother's blood and said that werewolf blood was disgusting. And then he left." Giroro's hands were shaking.

"So... Kululu murdered your brother?" Natsumi was horrified, but not shocked. If anyone was going to be the murderer time and time again it had led to Kululu.

"Knew it would be a vampire." Fuyuki's eyes were wide, but the pieces were finally falling together.

"We have to catch him," said Koyuki.

Dororo finally spoke up. "Listen... I know Kululu is evil, and from what I know of you, you've come here to catch the person making people disappear. And Kululu seems to be the prime suspect, but - "

"Dororo, you might be my friend but if you defend that vile guy, I'll..." Giroro couldn't finish his threat, he just growled.

"No, I'm not saying anything like 'don't catch Kululu,' I just know that he's Angol Mois's head butler. And I want you to be careful while catching him to not hurt her," he begged.

"Don't worry, she's a nice girl. My friend even," Natsumi smiled. She suspected Angol Mois was a very kind girl who was friend to human and monster alike. She seemed pretty new to her job to countess, so maybe she was a human like them.

"She's very sweet to all us monsters. This safe haven is ruled by her, after all... And she saved my life," Dororo began. "Long ago, before I lived here, the people were stopping their worship of spirits. They began forgetting about us and we started dying off..." He trailed off.

"I know a bit about that," Koyuki interjected. "That's what I heard happened."

"I was one of those spirits. Forgotten about. Weakening. Nobody worshipped or remembered me. So afraid of withering away and being forgotten, I left my post." He looked ashamed. "But nobody would remember me or see me. And eventually, a box from my shrine just washed away into the sea." He looked down sadly. "It washed up here and Mois found it. She saw me and heard my story and offered me a safe haven. She told me if I lived here, she would make sure to remember me, ensuring my safety and life." He smiled softly.

"She's the perfect countess, so I don't want her to be caught in the crossfire. She is innocent... Please don't harm her," he finished.

"We won't," Natsumi vowed. "And although it's hard facing someone you know is doing something terrible, she'll have to face it. She might be close to Kululu, but she has to face the facts. But we'll help her through it."

Dororo nodded. "Then I will aid you."

They all smiled. They were glad things had sorted themselves out, and that the answers they had searched for had finally been found.

* * *

They went back home, all of them. Dororo had to stay behind since he was too conspicuous for town, though.

"So... I suppose we'll have to plan a trap for Kululu, then," Natsumi decided. She was facing this whole "supernatural creature thing" pretty well. Now she just wanted to punch some vampire.

"Ohh I'm great at traps! Let me help!" Koyuki begged.

They all smiled.

And Momoka still remained confused in the background.

* * *

 **So instead of listing characters out I'll explain what monster each is from the explanations.**

 **Saburo, Koyuki, Momoka, Fuyuki, and Natsumi, Keroro are human.**

 **Tamama's technically a male banshee but those don't exist actually so I'm going to call him a wraith.**

 **Giroro is a werewolf.**

 **Dororo's a nine-tailed fox.**

 **Kululu's a vampire.**

 **And after five chapters Giroro is finally into Natsumi.**

 **Please review.**


	6. Bait

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

 **Yay! I wrote four chapters today! So there's only four chapters left!**

* * *

Natsumi's part of the plan was to buy rope. Giroro, who knew the area better, was going to get the rest of the supplies that Koyuki had requested for the trap. Koyuki was at home, planning it along with Momoka, Fuyuki, and Saburo, who Fuyuki had invited along to help, since they knew he was human. They were planning to do the same with Keroro, once they found him as well.

"Rope, rope..." Natsumi looked at all the stores, looking for the rope. It had to be strong rope. Good and sturdy to keep Kululu contained.

She noticed Tamama walking around and shopping for supplies as well for his store.

 _He's a wraith... A monster,_ Natsumi reminded herself. He could very well be evil like the rest, and she didn't trust him. Natsumi walked up to him. She had to protect Momota, make sure that Tamama didn't hurt him.

"Hey," she murmured.

"Hi, Nattchi! Need anything?" Tamama smiled.

Natsumi changed her stance to be more commanding. "I know what you are, Tamama. I know about this town," she said. "And I know how dangerous you are."

"Oh... well, um..." Tamama fumbled. "Who told you about the incident with the fly? IT WAS LOOKING AT ME FUNNY, I SWEAR IT!"

"No. Someone told me about what you really are," she replied.

"Oh. Well, then no worries. That's fine that you know." He smiled and shrugged it off.

Natsumi frowned, getting down to business. "I wanted to warn you to not hurt Momota."

"I would never. Momota is my friend. Perhaps even my best friend. We're close. I'd never hurt him," Tamama insisted. "You can trust me. Even though I'm a wraith and a creature of dark energy, I would never hurt him."

His words seemed sincere, so Natsumi believed him. She sighed. She didn't trust Tamama, but at least he wouldn't hurt Momota. And he certainly wasn't working with the one who had harmed him. That pleased her in a way.

Now she could go searching for that rope.

* * *

Momoka had finally been caught up on everything. She had always believed in Fuyuki and his theories, but she was so happy that he had finally found exactly what he was looking for.

But now that they were alone, mostly, besides Saburo, she had a job to do. She needed to find out if Fuyuki liked her.

"So... um... Fuyuki, do you like anyone? Anyone you're in love with?" she asked carefully.

Fuyuki looked at her strangely. He liked to think that he wasn't oblivious. "Um... this might be awkward to ask, but, uh..." He blushed a little. "Are you hitting on me?"

Momoka turned deep red. "N-no! No! I mean, of course not! Wh-why would you think that?" Never before had Fuyuki asked her if she was hitting on him. Was it easier for him to see if she was a boy?

Fuyuki turned redder. The way Momoka denied it kind of confirmed it.

"Um... uhh, can I change the subject?" she begged. Fuyuki nodded. "I'm happy that you finally found a werewolf. I know you really wanted to find one and prove your theories."

"Really? You're happy for me?" Fuyuki grinned. Everybody else had teased him about his dreams, but Momoka seemed supportive. "Thanks!" He smiled, but then blushed as he looked at her closer.

 _Maybe it's just cuz he just hit on me... But Momota's kind of cute..._ he realized. He knew he had a fiancee, but Momoka probably didn't like him. He wasn't even sure why her parents had suggested that they get together. She had never shown any signs of liking him, and he mostly just felt bad that she was in this arranged marriage now because of him.

"You know... about your question, if I like anyone..." Fuyuki was quiet. Momoka listened closely. "I am actually engaged to a friend of mine from school."

Momoka's heart soared when he mentioned her. "Are you happy with your engagement?"

Fuyuki frowned and twiddled his thumbs. "It happened because I wanted to finance this trip here. Her father said I could have the money if I married her, and I... I knew she'd be supportive of my dream, so I agreed. But I feel so bad. I mean, Momoka doesn't like me! Her dreams were probably crushed because of mine." He looked so sad.

Momoka put her hand on his and looked at him. "Oh Fuyuki, you probably didn't crush her dreams. You probably _were_ her dream."

Fuyuki looked down shyly at Momota. He scooted closer to him, kind of confused. Momoka scooted closer, too.

"Hey guys... So what are we going to do for bait?" Saburo asked, still in the room. Fuyuki and Momoka stopped their hand-holding.

Fuyuki knew exactly what kind of bait Koyuki had meant. A human. "We have to use a human as bait to lure Kululu in. And I... I think we should use the human who's been living here and hasn't been caught yet." Fuyuki stared straight at Saburo. "Why haven't you been caught yet?"

"I'm fast, agile. I protect my house in security measures," he answered. "Wait, you want to use me as bait?"

But Fuyuki had cornered. And Saburo couldn't get away now.

That was why he had been invited. To be the bait.

* * *

Natsumi ran into one of the few people she hadn't seen ever wandering around town - Angol Mois. She had always assumed her servant dealt with purchasing things.

Instead, she saw Mois sitting on a bench and staring dreamily at Keroro across the street.

"Mois?" Natsumi was happy to see the young countess. But she instantly recognized that dreamy look. Mois was in love.

And with all people, it was with Keroro, who was an absolute idiot.

"Natsumi, it's wonderful to see you here!" she greeted. "I was just looking at some... pigeons..."

"I saw what you were looking at. You're in love with that idio - I mean Keroro, aren't you? I can recognize a maiden in love." Natsumi sat down next to her. She had time to get back home. She had already purchased the rope.

Mois sighed. "Yeah. It's just... he's so charismatic and charming!"

Natsumi giggled. Mois was so human; she couldn't imagine that this girl could be a monster or knew about the supernatural creatures in her town. But she loved all in her domain.

She'd probably be devastated when she realized her servant was the one who was so murderous. She decided it was best not to tell her, at least not yet when she didn't have any evidence.

"You'd be a cute couple," Natsumi told her.

Mois grinned. "I hope we'd be. I haven't had much luck in love, honestly." Suddenly she frowned.

"Oh? Someone like you? You'd be a catch to anyone!" Natsumi complimented. "I can't imagine you being as luckless as me. Not like I want to date anyone now, but back in the day I was terrible with love. Nobody wanted to date me because they thought I'd punch them. They were right, I mean, but still... I can't imagine you having that same problem!"

"It's not true. My last love wasn't interested, so I realized that I needed to move on because it would never happen between us." She sighed, then brightened up. "But Keroro is so much better! There's hope!"

Natsumi smiled too. There definitely was. She glanced at Keroro, seeing that he was holding a wrapped gift. It looked like it had a card shaped in a heart on it, and it looked like he was rehearsing what to say.

"I bet there is hope." She nudged Mois's side playfully.

As she hugged Natsumi, Natsumi saw him head off in the opposite directions - toward Tamama's bakery.

"I can do it this time... I really can," she heard him say as he knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Tamama asked. "Mr. Sergeant! Something you need?"

Keroro opened his mouth, then quickly closed it. "Nope. Sorry wrong house." Then he darted away, throwing his gift in the trash when Tamama wasn't looking.

Natsumi frowned. Maybe Keroro wasn't the one Mois should fall for, either. She had a dreadful feeling that Keroro was interested in Tamama instead. And now she felt so bad for her.

She pried Mois off of her, thankful she hadn't seen that. "Uhh... you know what? Even if it doesn't work out with him, we don't need men anyway. You're worth a thousand of that guy. You don't need anyone but you. You're amazing," she told her. "And Keroro and your last love are both idiots - uh, would both be idiots - for not seeing that."

Mois smiled. "Thank you, Natsumi," she told her gratefully. She stood up and started to leave.

But Natsumi still had something in the back of her mind. "You... You know about the supernatural creatures, right? You rule over them? How'd it come to be?"

Mois whirled around in shock. " _You_ know?"

Natsumi nodded.

She paused, trying to overcome her shock. "Yes, I know. This town is mine, after all... And honestly, I'd like to say this place came to be out of a great plan to help the creatures here. But honestly, it just happened by chance. I set up residency here and eventually, monsters started coming, too, I offered them a safe place in which to live." Mois smiled. "You could say, a happy accident?"

Natsumi nodded. That sounded like her. But the way Mois was talking, it sounded like she was implying she _created_ the town. Was it really that new? Or was... Mois not as new of a countess as she thought?

"Anyway, bye!" Mois waved and left.

And Natsumi still had a rope to give to her friends.

* * *

She handed Giroro the rope.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Giroro smiled. "We're using it to hang up Saburo first."

"Huh, why?" Natsumi asked. Fuyuki, Momoka, and Koyuki were already holding him down.

"We need bait," said Giroro. "But Momota's too injured, Fuyuki's too weak so he might actually get killed, Koyuki's administering the trap, I'm a werewolf so I wouldn't work, and I'm not - I mean _we're not_ risking you. You shouldn't be tied up. You're too strong. Too crucial for our plan," he told her. "So only Saburo works. That's why we invited him."

Giroro quickly tied him up and hung him from the ceiling. Saburo frowned.

"I didn't agree to this. I could get bitten. Could get turned into a vampire or killed," he said.

"I don't care," Giroro snapped. Natsumi pinched him for the rude comment.

Saburo frowned. "I'm not doing this."

"Well, you can't get out of it now," said Momoka.

"Watch me." Saburo contorted himself out of the rope, easily untying himself. He did a back-flip and landed on the ground. Quickly, he put on a familiar mask - the mask of Mutsumi.

"Yes! The masked hero was me!" he laughed. "The Robinhood of this town! I came here to escape being arrested, and I'm not going to be trapped as bait for anyone." Before anyone could catch him, he darted away dramatically. "Good luck with your trap!" And he was gone.

"Well... Now we need new bait." Fuyuki looked down.

Giroro pat him on the back. "Don't worry, I have a back-up idiot."

* * *

Keroro hung from the ceiling, completely tied up. "And how will this help catch a murderer?" he asked.

Tamama watched by Momoka's side. "He'll be okay, right?" he asked desperately.

"We'll keep him safe," she reassured.

"I told you, we need bait to catch the vampire. And you're an expandable human that's lived here for a while and hasn't disappeared yet," Giroro told him.

"Wait, what? Vampire?" Keroro acted confused.

"Keroro. You knew about it. Don't lie. You accidentally glued yourself to me one day when you were showing me your toys. I turned into a wolf but couldn't bite you because you were on my back. It was terrible." He frowned at the memory. "Had to stay at your house the entire time during that transformation. I told you about all that supernatural stuff after that. Remember?"

"I forget things easily," Keroro reminded him. Giroro face-palmed.

They all hid behind crates and barrels in the Countess's barn, waiting for when night would fall and vampires like Kululu would inevitably come out to garden or suck people's necks for blood or whatever else they did at night.

And just as predicted, the doors to the barn were thrown open as Kululu stared at Keroro hanging from the ceiling.

"Oh. Ku ku ku. Someone who's just hanging from the ceiling. And a bunch of chicken blood leading to this location. How normal." Kululu didn't sound like he believed it, himself. "I don't suspect a trap at _all_."

"Don't eat me, please." Keroro begged.

"Actually, even if it is a trap, I would like nothing more than to eat you. So I'm going to take this bait, because someone obviously knew me well. Ku, ku, ku. You're way too annoying to let stay in this town." Kululu approached, despite better judgment.

He stepped onto the net trap that Koyuki had prepared, and she pulled the rope. Soon enough, Kululu was also hanging from the ceiling, all tied up.

"We got you!" Fuyuki came out of behind the barrel. "And we laced the net with garlic, so you can't escape!"

"So that's why I feel like crying." Kululu's eyes widened, even though it was ONIONS that did that. "Where the hell did you hear the garlic crap? I don't actually have a problem with garlic. I cook with it all the time to make curry for Mois."

Fuyuki looked disappointed. Apparently his vampire lore was wrong. "Oh."

Koyuki cut the net down and held Kululu down with strong vines that Dororo had given her.

"If you move I'll poison you," she told him. She positioned a poisoned blade above his tied-up hands. It could drop on him at any moment.

"We have you caught, vampire. Bet you regret pretending to prank me now." Natsumi crossed her arms and grinned at him. Seeing Giroro and Tamama among the group, Kululu realized they knew about him.

"Ku. Pity. I've been caught. I just wish I could have sucked some of Keroro's human blood before being caught... Ku, ku, ku. I'm sure it would have been delicious."

"He looked like he was going to kill me." Keroro rubbed his neck as Tamama helped him down from his post.

"Wish I could. Wish I could." Kululu sighed. Then he glared at Natsumi, Fuyuki, and Koyuki. "And the Countess was so nice to you all too," he said. "She's going to be _pissed_ when she realizes you've captured her favorite servant just cause he wanted to suck some blood from her boyfriend. Ku, ku, ku. Oh wait, no she won't."

Natsumi rolled her eyes.

"By the way, how's your brother doing, Giroro? Oh yeah. He's dead!" Kululu laughed.

Giroro's eyes lit with fury. "I want to kill him."

"And Momota. You aren't getting your paycheck this week. You haven't come in for work at all. Ku, ku, ku."

"Cut it out, Kululu. We've caught you," said Natsumi. "And we're going to starve you until you answer our questions about the murderers. Confess to your crimes!"

Kululu thought for a moment. " 'Kay. I killed Garuru. We got in a fight and to protect my innocent self I killed him."

"No, not about him! About the humans' murders!" Natsumi corrected. "The disappearances in town! The bleeding."

"Sorry, don't know anything about that. I'm just an innocent butler. The Countess's butler, in fact. The most innocent and trustworthy guy you know. Ku, ku, ku! I'm a riot!" he laughed to himself.

Nobody found his joke very funny.

* * *

They waited for him to get hungry and desperate enough to confess and give himself away. Keroro was still kind of scared that Kululu was going to bite him.

"It's all right, Mr. Sergeant. I'm here," Tamama comforted.

"Thanks," Keroro smiled, patting Tamama's head.

"YES! I got a head-pat! Not that woman!" he smiled.

"Hey, don't blame me. A vampire's got to eat, after all," Kululu finally defended himself.

Tamama's pupils shrank angrily. "SHUT UP, DON'T HURT MY SERGEANT!" He opened his mouth and let out a screech. His screech was powerful and directed at Kululu, but the people next to him - Koyuki, Giroro, and Natsumi - all got their ears blasted, too. Part of the wooden wall cracked from Tamama's loud banshee-esque screech.

Kululu's eyes swirled, as well. _That_... had hurt.

"Be careful about your hopeful love toward Keroro," he spoke, even though his ears hurt. "Keroro and Mois are pretty close. He'll never love you. After all, he's a lowly human, and you're not."

"Be quiet! Mr. Sergeant doesn't know... Don't tell him about me..." Tamama begged in a very quiet voice.

"Oh? Did you tell me to be quiet? Sorry, I can't hear you because you blasted my ears! Ku, ku, ku," Kululu laughed, "Did Tamama not tell you that he's a monster like the rest of us? A wraith or very rare male banshee? Did he not tell you that he's hopelessly in love with you, Keroro?" Kululu teased.

Tamama covered his face.

Keroro just stared. "No, he didn't," he answered simply.

Momoka went up to Tamama to pat his shoulder and comfort him. Tamama was about to be rejected and she didn't want this barn to be exploded because of it.

"But I already knew. He's pretty obvious about his supernatural origins, and I'm not dense. I know he likes me," said Keroro.

"Wait... You already knew, Mr. Sergeant?" Tamama gasped.

"Wait...You're not dense?" Giroro looked the most shocked.

Keroro nodded, smiling.

"Why... Why didn't you say anything?" Tamama's eyebrows furrowed.

"I..." Keroro looked like he was at a loss for words. "I didn't know what to say, nor how to bring it up," he finally decided.

Tamama looked shocked. "So... are you going to reject me?"

Keroro quickly shook his head. "I would never. I came back to this town for you, didn't I say that?"

Tamama beamed and jumped up, wrapping his arms around Keroro and kissing him. Keroro looked quite surprised. But he enjoyed it.

"Awww... so sweet," Momoka smiled. She was happy for her friend.

"Umm... I... I didn't really mean for that to happen... I honestly had no idea that would end in happiness." Kululu looked so shocked. "Man, did I mess up. Ku, ku, ku." He would not tell Mois about this.

"Shut up, unless you want to confess to your crimes!" Natsumi prodded. "Then we'll have the evidence we need to take you away."

"Going to be waiting a while, then," Kululu grinned, leaning back in his chair that they had imprisoned him in.

* * *

They took turns watching him for three days, starving him effectively. Eventually, there was a knock on the barn door.

"Hello?" It was Angol Mois.

"What do you need?" Fuyuki asked, peering through the barn door. He didn't let her see Kululu.

"Um... my butler, Kululu, has gone missing. Since you're looking into disappearances and all, I was wondering if you've seen him? I really need to find him... I'm worried about him," she said.

"Ku, ku, ku. Don't worry, I'm here," Kululu laughed, giving them away. Natsumi glared at him. Mois quickly pushed the door opened.

She looked shocked when she saw Kululu tied up. And for the first time, she looked angry. "What is going on?" She turned to Natsumi and ordered, "Release him!" For the first time she didn't speak like a ditz and instead like a countess, someone in charge.

"I'm... I'm sorry for you having to find out this way," Natsumi apologized, "We wanted to let you down easier, but you see, Kululu is a vampire... He's the one responsible for the disappearances, Mois. He's been the one bleeding and killing people, people like your pageboy Momota." She tried to grab the girl's hand to stop the shaking, to calm her. "I know it's hard to learn someone you trust is someone terrible, but..."

"Kululu is my loyal servant. He'd never do something like that!" she denied. "He's _not_ evil."

"Mois..." Natsumi begged.

"And anyway, I know he's just playing with all of you. He could get out of that trap you made at any time. Why haven't you, Kululu?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Didn't feel like it. They were so hilarious." He quickly caught the poison dagger before it could pierce his skin and used it to cut through the vines.

"Come over here, Kululu. That's an order." Then she scolded him, "You shouldn't have gotten caught like that for no reason."

Kululu stood up and brushed himself off. "Well, I guess I can't disobey an order from the oh-so-great-and-not-oblivious-at-all Countess." He rolled his eyes, then started walking over to her.

"You have to believe me, Mois. He's evil. He's been killing people," Natsumi said again.

"Kululu would never - " Mois was cut off as Kululu grabbed Keroro and laughed.

"Ku ku ku, psyche! I was the murderer! I just wanted to reveal it in a way that benefited me best and broke lots of hearts. Specifically yours, Mois. Ku, ku, ku!" Kululu laughed. Keroro tried to struggle out of Kululu's grip, but he wasn't as strong as a vampire.

"Kululu! Stop!" Mois ordered, but it was too late. Kululu had latched his teeth into Keroro's neck and had started drinking his blood.

Keroro screamed. Tamama just watched in shock.

But the moment was over in a mere second as Kululu took his mouth off of Keroro's neck, gagging and spitting out the blood. He grabbed at his own throat, trying to get the blood out.

"Kululu, your body can't take his blood. You'll choke!" Mois finally told him

"I-I... I thought you said you were a human!" Kululu gasped just as he fell to the ground, coughing and gagging.

Keroro's eyes widened, and he took a few steps back away from Kululu, looking around at the group fearfully as they closed in on him.

* * *

 **Please review.**

 **Also who do you think is the murderer?**


	7. Replaced

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

* * *

Everybody looked at Keroro in shock, none more so than Tamama.

Out of all the residents in town, Keroro was by far the most human. He had a past that was easy to verify outside of town. He appeared the most human and didn't transform into some sort of monster.

And he had always _implied_ that he was human. There was no way he couldn't be. But Keroro just continued stepping back, looking at the group fearfully.

 _What was he hiding?_ Natsumi glanced past Fuyuki's betrayed face to Giroro, who was more shocked, since he had known him longer. He looked like he was considering something. Realizing that Keroro had lied.

But for what reason? Did he have something to do with the disappearances? Was that the reason that he had never disappeared himself, even though he passed for a human?

Kululu just continued gagging on Keroro's blood on the ground.

"Keroro, over here." Angol Mois beckoned him closer to her as he looked at his old friends frightfully. He looked at the expression of confusion on Tamama's face and ran to Mois. "You too, Kululu. We're going home. Back to my manor." She helped Kululu up, ignoring his confession to the murders, and turned her back on them.

"Wait!" Natsumi finally found the will to speak up. "We still haven't sorted out this whole murder issue! And he just said he was the killer. You have to face that he's evil now!"

"I trust Kululu. He was probably just joking about that," said Mois

Keroro began to tip-toe away so he could leave with Angol Mois.

"Wait!" Tamama yelled. "There's no need to be frightened! I still love you, even if you aren't human, Mr. Sergeant!"

Keroro turned around and a smile formed on his face. Mois looked more confused at this confession than Kululu's confession to being a killer.

Kululu started laughing loudly. "Ku, ku, ku! Ku! That's a riot!" He keeled over in laughter.

"Wh-what do you mean? You just don't understand love, you awful, awful person!" Tamama hissed.

"Would you love him if he _wasn't_ Mr. Sergeant?" Kululu asked, his laughter finally stopping.

Tamama looked irritated, irritated. "That's a stupid question. I'm in love with Mr. Sergeant, not like Giroro or something."

Kululu grinned. "Ku. I was hoping for that answer..."

"Kululu..." Angol Mois tried to stop him from speaking, for the first time her voice sounded a bit angry at him. He ignored it.

"Because guess what, kid? You aren't in love with Mr. Sergeant! Because this guy...The guy in front of you, isn't him!" Kululu pointed to Keroro, "What I tasted was something called doppelganger blood. Are you smart enough to know what that means?"

Tamama started shaking. Keroro just mouthed the words "I'm sorry" and looked down.

"Doppelganger?" Natsumi was confused.

"Doppleganger's don't have forms. They switch from person to person, pretending to be something they're not. It's a disguise. Similar to what that pageboy is doing." Kululu pointed to Momoka.

"Wait, what's Momota doing?" Fuyuki swiveled around. "Momota's a doppelganger, too?"

"No dummy, she's a girl." He rolled his eyes. "I think her name is Momoka when I looked into hiring her. Ku, ku, ku! Another one exposed!"

Momoka looked like she was going to kill something. Specifically Kululu. _He was just getting to the point of talking to me, too! Now he'll hate me forever!_

Fuyuki was still confused. Momoka was back home, not next to him!

"Anyway, what I'm saying is he probably isn't even the guy you fell in love with," said Kululu. "He's just impersonating him. Identity theft at it's greatest. I'm just disappointed it took me so long to figure out. Your 'Mr. Sergeant' is someone else. Not this guy."

Tamama just looked shocked. He turned away from Keroro.

Mois sighed as Keroro looked heart-broken. "That's enough life-ruining for one day, Kululu. We're going." She tugged at Keroro's and Kululu's sleeves and pulled them away to go back to the manor.

They were quickly gone. And everybody remained in the barn, shocked at what had transpired.

* * *

After hearing what Keroro was, Fuyuki didn't really care. Doppelgangers sounded cool. But what was _truly_ a head-scratcher was Momoka.

"You're... You're a girl?" He still tried to put this together. "No... you're Momota, not Momoka! Kululu was just playing us for a fool."

Momoka sighed. She had been exposed. And she better take it with honor and dignity.

So she ripped open her shirt and flashed Fuyuki her boobs. "These are Momoka's boobs. You've never seen them before, but we're going to get married soon so I suppose you'll get acquainted with them."

Giroro covered his eyes. Tamama screamed. Fuyuki's face turned red.

"Fine! Fine! I believe you! You can cover up!" he yelled. Momoka covered up. "So... you really are Momoka? I mean... I could hardly recognize you!"

Momoka took off her hat with a sigh.

"Oh! Oh I guess you are Momoka! There you are!" Fuyuki smiled. Momoka face-palmed. "But what are you doing here? Wait... Oh my god, you almost died! Are you okay? I never thought coming to a town with a serial killer roaming around would make anyone get hurt..." He looked at her worriedly.

"I came here before you so I could see you, Fuyuki. I wanted to learn more about you, see how you acted around someone that wasn't me. I wanted... to see if you loved me, make sure you didn't fall in love with anyone else. I was worried, Fuyuki," she admitted.

"Why would you be? I mean, you're pretty trapped in this marriage. Don't you want to marry someone you love and not your friend?" he asked.

Momoka looked like she wanted to pound him. "I _do_ love you, Fuyuki! I've loved you for eight years! Throughout our entire school experience. And you haven't gotten the hint even _once_!" Her brow furrowed. "I wanted to learn if you felt the same... So I have to ask, do you love me? Or does your heart belong to someone else?"

Fuyuki started blushing. Momoka loved him? He hadn't expected that.

"See? This is why you don't run off to research trips without communicating with your fiancee. Should have dealt with your upcoming marriage first," Natsumi scolded.

Fuyuki covered his face. "I... I do like you, Momoka. You're really cute. And don't worry, I'll be true to my promise. I won't fall in love with someone else. We're going to get married, remember?" He tried to smile and be kind, but he was just so embarrassed.

Momoka squealed. "Fuyuki's mine!"

* * *

Koyuki looked between Giroro and Tamama confused. "So... about Keroro..."

"If that really is his name?" Tamama wondered.

"What are doppelgangers? And why did he lie?" Koyuki asked.

"Yeah... I mean, he couldn't have been Kululu's accomplice. Kululu definitely didn't know. But do you think he had something to do with the murderers?" Natsumi asked.

Giroro shook his head. "Even... Even if he isn't who he said he was. There is one thing that remains true."

Everyone listened in tenderly.

"He was an idiot. He couldn't kill someone if he tried."

"But what _are_ they?" asked Koyuki. "Doppelgangers."

"I've only heard rumors about them, legends," said Giroro. "Sometimes babies are stolen by goblins and replaced with the goblins' own young - a doppelganger. The doppelganger grows up, pretending to be that child, while the goblins eat the real child. Sometimes the doppelganger returns to their goblin city; sometimes they don't."

Koyuki exhaled. So Keroro was part of a huge terrible thing. And he had purposefully lied to them about who he was. But why?

She didn't know.

* * *

Keroro wanted to cry. He was exposed. He could never go back now. Angol Mois sat him down in a soft chair back at her manor. Kululu just waited for an explanation for the whole thing.

"I am so so sorry that happened." She pat Keroro's head, honestly apologetic. "I wanted you to be safe in this town, but now you've been exposed. But don't worry! You could say, if at first you don't succeed, try again? We can find a different person for you to take the form of. You can become someone else, and we can pretend this never happened," she said with a smile.

Keroro just sighed and looked down. It wouldn't be the same as the life he had lived before.

"So... can I have an explanation yet?" Kululu crossed his arms. "Why didn't you tell me he was a doppelganger, Mois? Really could have saved my throat back there. I almost choked on his disgusting blood!"

Mois tossed him a scolding look, or about as scolding a look as she could manage. "You aren't supposed to be drinking people's blood, anyway!"

"But really. I'm your head servant!" he retorted. "If you don't tell me certain things - if I'm not informed about everything going on in this town - I can't... take care of things properly."

"It wasn't my place to tell you. It wasn't my secret to share," she answered.

He frowned. He wasn't used to being cut out of secrets.

"So? Who do you want to be?" Mois turned back to Keroro. "I'm sure we could find someone good for you to impersonate!"

Keroro just looked blank. "I wanted to be Mr. Sergeant, the war hero," he spoke. "I wanted to be him for Tamama. And now I can't."

Mois just stroked his hair, trying to soothe him.

* * *

He didn't know he was a monster until he was a teenager. He had always assumed he was human. There was no reason to not.

His birth name was Keroro. At least, that was what his parents had told him. A common name, rather generic. He had met five other Keroro's in his city. It was supposed to bring luck.

It didn't. The goblins who had put him in his crib returned while he was out playing one day. They told him what he was.

He didn't believe them.

"I'm not one of you! And I would never turn my back on my parents!" he screamed. He immediately ran to his mom and dad and told them about the encounter with the goblins. They looked at him strangely, then screamed.

His hair was changing color. It was no longer his original color, and instead it was green. His form was no longer constant.

"I'm not one of them..." he tried to reassure his parents. He had grown up with tales of doppelgangers, how they took the form of those you loved and impersonated them. They were dangerous and had to be caught and killed. With them around, you couldn't trust anyone.

His parents didn't believe him. They knew the truth when they looked into his eyes. It wasn't their son. They had suspected it deep down when he didn't take after them, but now they had proof.

Still, they couldn't bear to kill him. So they threw him out. "If you know anything, impersonator, you'll kill yourself. Because we never want to see you again."

And just like that, Keroro lost his home. _Keroro_. If that was even his name.

* * *

He roamed around for many years, taking whatever generic form would help him blend in. He could steal someone's paycheck to get by, live by just his mischievous nature. The goblins never took him back because of how he had claimed he wasn't one of them. So he was on his own.

He didn't know who he was. He didn't have any identity. But that didn't stop him from being a loud-mouth. Every town he came across. he seemed to gather a following for whatever cause he believed in. He was naturally charismatic, with a gifted tongue to unite the people under stupidity. But eventually, his fun would end and he would be exposed by just an accidental encounter with iron or steel and - poof! His burning skin would wither away to reveal his blank, white form. And he would be chased out.

Eventually he came across Mois's town. It didn't take him long to impersonate someone and make a following, and he knew he'd be exposed soon and thrown out. But he got the attention of the Countess with his charisma and she came to him. He had assumed she would be like all the rest, but she recognized him for what he was.

"Who are you?" she had asked him. "You aren't Tom. He's not with us any longer."

"I'm nobody. It's not important," said Keroro.

"Ah... so you're a doppelganger. A shape-shifter." Mois's eyes twinkled.

"You won't kill me. Even though the whole world wants me dead, I won't let it take me down. I'll live and blend in, forever and ever," Keroro proclaimed.

"I don't want to kill you. This place is actually a safe haven for people like you... monsters without homes. You're a nice person. I admire how you gathered so many people for your latest protest. You're welcome to stay here if you wish. And if you don't want anyone to know who you are, that's fine. Here, you can be whoever you want," she smiled. "So I hope you take up the offer. This place can be your home now, mister."

Keroro was thankful for her kindness. So he stayed. But he still didn't feel like he belonged.

* * *

He lived happily, visiting the various places in the town. Eventually he found a nice bakery and went there because it smelled so nice.

"Hey! Welcome to Tamama's Bakery! Do you want a cake?" Tamama asked.

"A cake?" Keroro hadn't had one since he had lived with his human parents. "I haven't tasted a cake in so long..."

Tamama gasped. "Seriously? That's horrible! Then it's on the house!" Tamama handed him a slice of cake. "Eat up! It's yummy!"

Keroro did. It warmed his stomach. "So good!"

"Hehehe, I know!" Tamama smiled.

* * *

He visited the bakery everyday as a different person. Sometimes a boy, sometimes a girl. Whatever got him in to see Tamama. And everyday Tamama managed to make him smile, even if he was in a darker mood and doing voodoo or something.

They talked about casual things, nothing _too_ big to make Tamama suspect he was all the same person. But he liked hanging around with him. It almost felt like he had a friend.

But Keroro knew he didn't. But what he knew he _did_ have was a crush. Tamama was the only thing that had really made him feel like a person, like he was happy. The Countess was nice, sure. But she didn't roam among the people like Tamama. He barely ever saw her, actually.

He knew he was in love with Tamama, but he also knew there was no chance for them to be together. After all, every day Tamama talked about this guy named "Mr. Sergeant" who he was in love with.

But despite that, Keroro couldn't stop himself for falling for him. He didn't want him for himself - he actually was rooting for Tamama and this "Mr. Sergeant" guy, someone who had once saved him from a pack of wolves.

"He'll come back to me. I mean, he has to feel the same bond I do, right?" Tamama had told Keroro. "He's off in a war right now. But he'll come back..."

* * *

Keroro believed Tamama when he said his love would come back.

 _I'll bring him back. It'll be my thanks for all the free cake I've gotten off of him,_ Keroro vowed. He left town only briefly to find this Mr. Sergeant. Tamama had never learned his name besides "Mr. Sergeant."

But when Keroro impersonated a few guards and got to the records office of this guy, he learned something devastating.

"Dead? He died in combat?"

Keroro felt terrible for Tamama. Tamama was waiting for someone who would likely never come back for him.

Keroro wanted to cry for him. But that wouldn't help.

 _Wait... He's dead. He won't be coming back._ Quickly, Keroro's face changed to become the picture of the sergeant. He ignored the name of whoever this guy was. Nobody knew or cared about it, anyway.

 _I don't have an identity. I could fix this. Tamama's waiting for someone; he doesn't have to know it isn't the same guy. I could pretend I came back just for him. It would make him so happy!_ Keroro smiled.

He could be this Mr. Sergeant. He could even go by his old name, Keroro.

He would be somebody. He would do some good with his life. He'd finally have a life.

And he was truly happy, even though he was committing identity theft.

* * *

"You know, you don't have to impersonate _anybody_." Mois stroked Keroro's hair. "You can always be who you truly are toward me. You don't have to be pretending to be someone you're not. You can show me the real you. I'll accept you, even if Tamama didn't." She knew Keroro was going through a broken heart. And she wanted to comfort him.

"I love you. Don't cry," she told him soothingly. Keroro cried, anyway.

Kululu leaned against the wall, watching awkwardly. "Ku, so... um... Should I leave? Am I in the clear, or are you going to discipline me for exposing him? Should I... uhhh... get you some tea or something?"

Mois turned to him. He had ruined their moment. "No, I will talk to you later. When he's calmed. For now you can leave," she dismissed, then added, "And think about what you did."

"Exposing your boyfriend?" Kululu asked.

"No, getting captured and starved for three days for no real reason. I was worried about you!" she said.

Kululu frowned. Even when mad, Mois was _way_ too nice.

"You know..." Keroro speculated. "I think I shall leave. I'm ready to be someone else. Thanks for being such a nice mom figure to me!"

Mois frowned. That was _not_ what she had been going for.

"I'm... I'm going to go scout the town and choose a face to be," Keroro decided. "Can't hide out here forever, right?"

And he left.

* * *

Mois was left alone with Kululu. For a moment, all was quiet as Kululu poured her a cup of tea.

"Why did you tell them that you were the murderer?" she finally asked.

He smirked. "Better question, Mois. Why didn't you let them fall for it?"

"Because you and I both know you didn't kill anyone," she said.

"Ku, sure I did. I killed Garuru, didn't I? You can't pretend to not know about that one. Not only did I kill him, I developed a serum to turn him into a werewolf. Remember that? Or are you just going to close your ears to my crimes?"

"You shouldn't have killed him."

"Tried not to. Ku ku ku. I just wanted to ruin him a little. Had to turn him into a monster, but he was still being nosy..."

"So you panicked," she concluded. "He didn't need to die. And his death certainly doesn't help prove your innocence."

He shot a glare at her. "Maybe I don't _want_ to prove my innocence."

"Why wouldn't you?" she asked. "This is a problem, them suspecting you so much. You aren't the murderer. I don't want them capturing you again."

Kululu set the tea pot down crossly.

"Why won't you just let me take the blame for this?" His voice was shaky. "They are _my_ fault! They are completely my fault!"

"Just keep the disappearances out of your mind, please, Kululu. I know you get panicky when people poke into them, but you have to just keep a positive attitude! They really _aren't_ your fault. You didn't make any of those humans disappear." She smiled at him, trying to keep him calm.

"Just keep being my servant," she said. "Don't go off and try to provoke Natsumi and her friends. That's what you're trying to do, isn't it? Provoke them? That isn't your job. Your job is to aid me. You like doing that, right?"

"Mois, you and I both know that I'll be your loyal servant for all of time itself. I would never betray you." He bowed and took her hand. "And if you really wish for me to not provoke them... Ku. Then I suppose I'll have to. Even if I don't like it. But I just don't understand why you won't let me... I think what we're having is a _conflict of interest_. I can't even understand why. By all means you should agree with what I'm doing, right? It's for the best." He kissed her hand, briefly to pledge his loyalty to her. Now that nobody was around, he could express his much more loyal side to her, instead of hiding it from her just to be a jerk and pretending he was a murderer.

He was her loyal servant and always would be.

Mois stood up and tilted Kululu's chin up to look at her. She furrowed her brow, angry that he even _thought_ there was a conflict of interest. "It's because I won't let those humans hurt you! I don't want you hurt, Kululu! That's why I won't let you let them believe you're the murderer. I won't let you take the blame. You've served me faithfully for hundreds of years; and besides that, you're my very good friend." She looked hurt. "Do you think I care nothing for you?"

Kululu stood up, avoiding her gaze almost timidly as he shot his eyes to the ground. "Fine, fine, I believe you care about me. Happy now?"

She grinned. "Very."

A thought struck him."Maybe it would be easier if those humans died. That would stop them looking into things. And that would solve the problem entirely. Kuuu ku ku ku ku."

"No." She shook her head. "Natsumi's a nice person. I like her. You aren't going to kill her."

"But it's either that, or I give myself up, so..." Kululu trailed off.

"Stop being silly," she told him. She knew Kululu was scared, so she grabbed his hand and entwined his fingers with hers. That always calmed him. "For the last time, you aren't giving yourself up. I'm not going to lose you. You know you didn't kill those people, so stop suggesting this."

"I know I didn't," he said desperately. "B-but... why do you have to be only thinking about yourself? You 'wouldn't know what to do if you lost me?' How do you think _I_ feel? Didn't you hear what Fuyuki said he'd do if the creature was supernatural? _Experimentation_ , Mois!"

"I know." Mois merely shrugged. "Don't panic. It's no big deal."

"How can you say not to panic? They're out for blood. They're going to drag you off and experiment on you if they capture you. If you can say you don't want to lose me, I can say the same about you," he told her. "And it'll be all my fault. It wasn't your fault that you had to bleed those people. You only did it so I could survive because my body requires blood constantly... So how can you say not to panic when it's _you_ who they're going after?"

"Because I trust you," she said. "And I know you'll protect me. They won't capture me." She rested her head against Kululu's chest. "You might have been the motive behind the murderers, but you aren't the killer. And I trust you enough to keep me safe."

Kululu paused at her honest words. He leaned closer to her, as if about to kiss her. She instinctively closed her eyes as he bent down to her, just like they had done a thousand times before.

However, Kululu's lips never met hers. He put his finger against her puckered lips, stopping it from happening. She opened her eyes in confusion. He gave her a small little, almost sad smile.

"Fine. I promise I'll protect you," he said to her.

She gave him a small nod.

"So... about Keroro..." He paused, changing the subject. "Now that Tamama isn't interested in him, do you plan to woo him?"

Mois sighed. After a moment she answered, "I do."

He nodded. The moment was gone.

But that didn't matter to him. What mattered was Mois's safety. And no matter what he'd protect her from those awful, awful humans.

 _I will protect you. Even if you don't agree with your methods._

* * *

 **That mystery did not last very long.**

 **Monsters:**

 **Kululu-Vampire**

 **Giroro-Werewolf**

 **Tamama- Wraith**

 **Dororo-Nine-tailed Fox**

 **Keroro-Doppelganger**

 **Please review!**


	8. Sickness and Age

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **Wow, only two more chapters left. Yay!**

* * *

Despite Angol Mois's warning, Kululu left her during the middle of the night when she was sleeping soundly.

He knew she had told him time and time again to not give himself up, but he needed to be sure that nobody would hurt her before he committed to that.

So he headed to town. Finding one of his bat minions that he could communicate with thanks to being a vampire, he whispered his command to it. "Eavesdrop on Natsumi and Fuyuki's group, and tell me what they're talking about."

The bat flew off and went to the house they were staying at.

* * *

Tamama, Momoka, Fuyuki, Giroro, Natsumi and Koyuki all sat around, thinking about what had transpired. Some people were thinking about important things, like Kululu and the murders, and some like Tamama were still thinking about Keroro.

"But... Momoka, I guess... That's your name, right?" Tamama asked. Momoka nodded. "Do I love Mr. Sergeant? I mean... He's not even the guy who saved me, isn't he?"

"Only you can answer if you love him, Tamama. He seemed to really care about you, though. Maybe he lied to cheer you up," Momoka told him.

Tamama nodded, listening to this fact. But could he still be in love with him? "I love how he saved me... But I guess I also really did love the idiot version of him and how funny he was and how he would hang out with me every day. So... was the one I really fell in love with _him_? Do I really love him?"

"If you fell for the idiot, it's definitely him," said Giroro.

Kululu rolled his eyes as his bat minion communicated the conversation telepathically to him.

"I do love Mr. Sergeant, then! I mean, Keroro... No, I mean... I don't know his name." Tamama frowned.

"Good for you, then we should finally start talking about important things," said Giroro. "Like getting rid of a murderer."

"And how do you suggest to do that? Mois won't let us bring him to justice because she doesn't believe us," Natsumi groaned.

"Let's just kill him, then," said Giroro. "He's a thorn in our side already, anyway. And I'm sure there's some fancy method to killing a vampire."

Natsumi frowned. "I don't approve of killing anyone! Even a vampire!"

"Oh... well then..." Giroro was caught between a confliction of the desire to kill Kululu and to agree with Natsumi and make her like him more. He frowned. "Got a better idea, then?"

"We're bringing him to the research institution that Fuyuki works at," said Natsumi. "His body will be used for science. We'll drag him away from this town."

"I agree with that!" Fuyuki seconded.

"The only problem is Angol Mois. She would never let us just leave with her servant. We need to get her to see reason, convince her he's evil. Which would be a lot easier if we didn't chase Keroro off. She'd listen to him." Natsumi glared at Tamama for chasing Keroro off.

"Hey! That woman might not have listened to him, anyway! Maybe she already knows. She's is an evil, terrible woman, after all. Maybe she's, like... Kululu's accomplice or something!" Tamama reasoned.

Natsumi rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous. You're just saying that because she likes Keroro."

"No! No, I'm not! Don't you ever wonder why there's no longer many stories of banshees roaming the land? Why there's only one wraith in this town?" said Tamama. "It's because that evil woman killed them all! She killed all of my people until she saw me, and then she was like 'Awww, what a cute little thing, want to live in my dumb town?' and I was like 'No way, woman! You just killed my clan!' But I came anyway because I had nowhere else to go. So if she killed _my_ people, why wouldn't she kill again?"

Natsumi rolled her eyes. More of Tamama's delusions of Mois. "Stop lying about her."

Tamama frowned.

But Kululu had heard enough. His bat left the site. Everybody might not have been listening to Tamama now, but he was speaking the truth. And if he kept talking, people might start actually suspecting Mois.

 _Got to stop this before it happens. Make sure they really think I'm just doing this because I'm a terrible person._ He panicked again, just like with Garuru so many years back.

He had to murder someone else in front of them. Had to prove that he was the killer before they could suspect anything else.

 _Sorry, Mois. To protect you, I have to break your other wish. Sometimes it's hard being such a loyal servant._

* * *

He had to pick his victim to lure out the next day. Who would get murdered in front of the rest? It had to be a human, but it couldn't be Natsumi.

 _Eenie, meenie, miney, ninja girl,_ Kululu decided. It would be best to lure her out. She was too observant for her own good.

He just had to lure her out with some sort of bait... A blood trail, perhaps? Then he could capture her and wait until the others went out to find her. Then he'd murder her in front of them all.

He sacrificed some of the precious blood Mois had harvested for him, making a trail when Koyuki was alone and looking through town.

She followed it immediately, taking the bait. When she went down a dark alley alone, Kululu's hands popped out and grabbed her.

"You're my prey now." Then he dragged her into the darkness before she could even scream or fight back, inserting a syringe with a paralysis inducing drug. Koyuki collapsed.

"Ku, ku, ku. Now I've just got to wait."

* * *

Koyuki didn't return for hours, and Natsumi was beginning to get worried. Her friend might have been their bodyguard, but she was still human - and her best friend.

"Where is she?" She didn't know where Koyuki was. She glanced at Giroro. "You're part dog, right? Can... Can you track her? Just to make sure she's okay?"

"I'm only able to track on the full moon," said Giroro. "But... I know someone who can locate her."

Almost instantly, Dororo teleported before them in all his nine-tailed glory. "How goes the quest for capturing Kululu?"

"He got away. And now that Koyuki girl is missing," Giroro explained.

Dororo frowned. "I sensed that her spiritual energy wasn't in this house. Lady Koyuki is a nice girl. And she won't get murdered by him," he spoke, unsheathing his blade. "I will find him, and recapture him for you."

"How are you going to go out to town when you're so conspicuous?" Natsumi asked, looking at his ears and his tail.

Dororo frowned. "It's... not like people will notice me, anyway. They never do. They don't even look at me!" He began to cry. "Even when I look so different."

Giroro pat his back. "Then find her. And bring Kululu to us," he requested.

Dororo nodded and rushed off, following Koyuki's spiritual energy.

* * *

It was easy enough to locate her. Her body had collapsed and was in Kululu's arms in the alley coated in darkness.

"Oh? Just you? I was hoping for a larger audience when I killed this girl. Ku!" Kululu laughed. "I mean, you being here isn't even worth it. I'll just forget about you."

Dororo pointed his blade. "Release Lady Koyuki and I will not harm you."

"Nah, don't feel like it!" said Kululu.

Dororo launched at him, barely nicking his skin with the blade. A small cut appeared in Kululu's sleeve as the blood that he drank to fuel his body was exposed.

Kululu frowned. "So, are you planning on killing me, then?"

"If you hurt her, yes. I know you are Mois's servant, but I hope she'll understand. Since you refuse to give Koyuki up, I will give you a chance. A battle for your life..." His eyes shone with honor.

Kululu nodded, and Dororo charged once more, his tails blazing.

Kululu tossed Koyuki at him. Dororo toppled over.

"Ku, ku, ku! I'm no good at battles. I don't want one."

"Then give yourself up," said Dororo. "I heard that you confessed to your crimes. Face justice." He lightly moved the sleeping Koyuki off of him and angled the sharp side of his blade toward Kululu.

What stopped him was Kululu's chill attitude a moment before Dororo's blade met his neck.

Kululu put his arms in the air. "You got me. I'm caught now. You win. Ku!"

Dororo was shocked. He gave a broad smile. "Really?"

Kululu grabbed his tail and pulled it with all his strength. Dororo screamed. But Kululu didn't leave. "No. But now I am. Ku. Jerk till the end!"

Dororo cried out, but then he conjured up vine shackles for Kululu.

Kululu was caught. And Dororo didn't question why the guy seemed so happy with this.

* * *

Once Koyuki had woken up, Dororo brought Kululu back to Natsumi's place. "I have caught him," he said. "He's dangerous and I suggest that, since you already have his confession, to just take him out of this town before he can weasel his way out."

"You mean, we won?" Natsumi's eyes were wide. "We can leave?" But what about Mois? What about all the friends they had made?

"Don't worry, I'll explain to her. She'll listen to me if I keep a calm and steady head," said Dororo. "So please just hurry and leave."

Natsumi was unsure. It couldn't really be this easy, could it? But maybe that was just her yearning for adventure. Someone else had caught the crook and now she was getting the spoils. "O-okay."

"Heh. I guess you're finally leaving town, after all," said Giroro a bit sadly.

Natsumi nodded. "I guess I am."

* * *

As a group, they all carried him outside to the train station outside the city limits. The train that exited the city wasn't in city limits, and the one that they had taken to get there was a one-way journey in. It was odd, walking with everybody and knowing that they'd never see them again.

The journey had ended. The trip outside of town was mostly a pleasant one, besides Kululu's constant jerky remarks about if they were there yet and Fuyuki chattering excitedly about how he had caught a vampire.

Natsumi still wondered, though, if everything was really fine. But there was this sense she had done what was right.

They sat on a bench, awaiting the train.

"It was nice to meet all of you. And I'm glad you could leave the town safely," Dororo said politely.

"It was nice to learn there's still a spirit out there," said Koyuki. After thinking it over a moment, she gave him a tight hug. "I will always remember you."

"Awww... thanks! I'll remember you, too!" Dororo grinned. "It's rare to meet a human who believes in spirits and respects them so much."

"You really leaving, Momocchi?" Tamama asked. Momoka nodded, squeezing Fuyuki's hand.

"We can finally marry. Isn't that, right, Fuyuki?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I suppose. You are right! We're going to get married, aren't we?" he said with a smile.

"Bleh, I'm gagging. Happy endings are the worst." Kululu was still a jerk.

Giroro glanced at Natsumi. "Umm... just a moment." He left for a brief moment and soon came back with flowers. "These are... uh... thank-you flowers for finally leaving." He blushed. "Nothing else. Don't read into them. Really."

"Thanks? I guess?" She took them, a bit baffled. "You know, I didn't like you when I first met you. And I didn't like you the second time I met you, either."

Giroro paused. "What about the third time?" he asked hopefully.

"Still nope," she giggled. "But when I finally saw the real you, I started understanding your actions instead of just wanting to punch you. And I feel like I'm a better person because of that. It's easy to punch someone and ask questions later, but punching someone when the questions are already answered... when you know they don't deserve it... that's harder." She smiled up at him. "So thank you."

"You've made me learn things too, Natsumi, like - "

"Ohh, ohh, is it _love_?" Kululu interjected. "Because that would be so cheesy I might actually barf. Ku, ku, ku."

"No!" Giroro denied. "I wasn't going to say that! Really!" He shot Kululu a glare. "Really, I wasn't! I was going to say 'hope in humanity.' Natsumi, you've taught me to have hope in humans. Some humans are tough enough to deal with monsters, like you. And I... I don't have to be afraid of myself anymore."

He paused and shook Natsumi's hand. She gladly accepted it. "I'm glad you're leaving, but a part of me wishes you could stay. I'm really going to miss you," he told her honestly.

Natsumi smiled and smelled her flowers. "So these are really thank-you flowers, right? Not... 'please stay with me, Natsumi, because despite what I said when I saved you from Kululu, you totally _are_ cute?' " she teased.

"Wh-what? N-no!" Giroro blushed and shook his head. "Th-they were just flowers to show my admiration - " He waved his hands in front of him defensively.

"Relax, I was teasing. And although I do like punching werewolves, I'm not just going to stay in a town of monsters just for some dude. I've got things to do. Adventures to have," she told him.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Natsumi." He smiled at her, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Um... so you really _were_ teasing?"

"Yeah, unless I was right." Natsumi stared at him. Was she? "Did you want me to stay with you? Do you think I'm cute?"

Giroro looked off to the side. "W-well, um... I..."

At that moment, Saburo rushed toward them. They hadn't seen him in days since his dramatic reveal of being Mutsumi.

"Train... Train..." He skittered eagerly around.

"What's going on? You finally leaving?" Giroro asked.

Saburo paused, and sweeped his hair to the side. He looked at them, trying to be cool. "Yeah. I'm not dealing with the bat shit going on now."

"Wait, what's going on?" Natsumi asked.

Saburo pointed toward Kululu. "You took him from town, didn't you?"

Natsumi nodded. She glared at Kululu. "Does something bad happen if you leave town? Is that why you gave yourself up?"

Kululu shrugged. "Not that I know of. What happened?"

"The town started shaking. The monsters that I'd thought were immortal - they just started dropping dead! People all over were getting sick, feeble... Some were aging in a matter of minutes till they were all bone!" Saburo shook. "Apparently his girlfriend wasn't too happy when you took him out of town. Guess she sensed it."

"I don't have a girlfriend," Kululu corrected.

"The Countess." Saburo rolled his eyes. "She rules the town, right? Only she'd have that power."

"Good inferences. Smart," Kululu complimented.

"Why should we believe you?" Natsumi wanted to know. "You didn't tell us about how you were Mutsumi. You only gave us information when it suited you."

"I had to!" he defended. "I lied to protect myself. I was running from the law when I entered this town. The rich didn't like it when I stole from them. I was smarter than most of the humans, though, so I quickly became wise to the monsters in the town. But I knew that if I acted like I knew, they'd kill me quicker, so I acted ignorant, but I kept my wit about me. It was my only way to survive. Nobody was going to kill me." He crossed his arms.

"But you're running from the town now," she said. "So you think you could be killed?"

Saburo nodded. "The Countess... I don't know who she is or what her powers are, but it's intense. She loves him - " He pointed to Kululu. " - and she'll end everyone in the town if he isn't returned. I might be a thief, but I'm not a bad person, and I know most of the monsters in that town aren't. They don't deserve to die. So I beg you to return him."

Kululu rolled his eyes. "She's just having a temper tantrum. It's already happened, like, _twice_ in all my years with her."

"At that magnitude? What the heck happened?" Giroro asked a bit frightened.

"I... well... Um, actually... I'm not that sure," he said. All he had really done was ask if she was really that sure that she wanted to be kissing and sleeping with him, or if he should find a replacement since he was just her servant. Although he was happy to do what she asked, they really were just master and servant and maybe should stop. It was best of her to find someone she really cared to spend time with.

Yeah, for some reason she had been pretty mad after that. Still a mystery.

"She'll tire herself out. And she doesn't love me. I think I know her a little better than you do," said Kululu.

Saburo rolled his eyes. "Dude, I'm a thief. I robbed her manor once."

He groaned. "Got to update the security."

"I stole her diary, so I'm pretty sure I'm the one who's right." Saburo actually had it on him, so he tossed the diary over to Kululu. Kululu caught it and shimmied his vine shackles off of him, having been able to do so the whole time.

Dororo frowned.

And despite being a very loyal servant, Kululu still read Mois's diary.

 _Dear diary,_

 _For some reason Kululu STILL doesn't see that I like him. How much more obvious can I make it? I asked him to kiss me today and he did but he just asked if I needed anything else. How dense can a person be?_

Kululu's mouth popped open. "Oh."

Natsumi tore it out of his hands. "You shouldn't be reading a girl's diary!"

"Well? What does it say?" Tamama asked eagerly.

Almost instinctively, Natsumi read aloud from a page.

" _Today Kululu and I made love again. And for some reason he still doesn't see that I like him. How could this have happened?_ "She gaped. "Wait, what? EW! EW! EW!"

"I get the idea. Stop reading. This really is torment," Kululu pleaded.

Tamama read an entry.

" _Kululu and I have been sleeping together for over 500 years, but every time I bring up the possibility that I like him he keeps saying that he'll do anything for me because he's my servant. Despite how many obvious gestures I've made he's made no clear indication that he gets it. Kululu's a dummy._ " Tamama laughed. "I'm going to read more." He flipped through some pages. " _Kululu called it off today because we're only master and servant. He said I should find someone I care about. I still don't think he knows I like him. I'm going to try harder."_

"Ah... so that's why she was mad." Kululu realized.

Tamama flipped through some more. " _Maybe he DOES know, actually. He can't be that dense, right? Maybe he just honestly doesn't like me. Maybe he's only been helping me because he has to. Poor Kululu. I'll move on. Make him more comfortable. He's made it apparent time and time again that we won't be together, after all. There was a nice doppelganger who entered town today... Maybe I will fall for him_." Tamama gasped. "So it's your fault."

Kululu looked sheepish. He sighed. "Point proven. Town's being destroyed because I'm gone. Well, I get the idea. This plan of being caught didn't work." And just like that, he started walking away.

"Wait! You can't just leave!" Natsumi yelled. "We captured you! You're a murderer!"

"Ku. Got more important things to do. Like a babe to make out with." He waved his hand. "Anyway, it's not like you really _caught_ me." He leaped into the air, hovering for a moment. "I gave myself up. Idiots. Kuuu, ku ku ku ku ku!"

And with that, he flew away.

"I guess it wasn't so easy." Natsumi frowned in annoyance. "It never is." Now they really had to beat him. But why was Mois killing people? She was such a nice girl!

And how... _How_ was she doing it?

* * *

Despite being frightened, all of them except Saburo entered town again. They had hoped that Saburo was lying, but just as he said, people were laying hurt and sick everywhere.

"Guys! What's going on?" Keroro - oddly, the only one who wasn't faltering in town - bounded up to them. His hair was still black, but his face looked very different. His eyes were no longer green, and instead black. He had a head-band on with a star and was dressed in green. Maybe he was embracing his individuality. He shied away from Tamama.

"No idea," Giroro answered. He was feeling weaker, too.

Dororo groaned, being one of the immortal creatures. He faltered, collapsing onto the ground.

"Dororo!" Koyuki yelled, kneeling down to him. "Are you all right?"

"Something is seeping away my energy..." he realized.

Koyuki bowed down in a praying position and spoke, "I wish for your health and well-being."

Dororo's strength was slowly returned to him. As a spirit, his life energy was linked to people's belief in him.

"Thank you, Lady Koyuki. Your belief in me will always keep me alive," he said.

Tamama was feeling a bit woozy too. He collapsed, but Keroro caught him. "Sorry," Keroro apologized. "I know you don't like me. I mean, who you like is the Sergeant, and that's not me. Heck, I'm not even Keroro. I don't know who I am..."

"It's all right," Tamama told him. "I love you. After all, you're who I fell for. Because I realized one thing..." He smiled. "You're a terrible actor. You were always you."

Keroro grinned widely and hugged Tamama. Tamama snuggled up to him.

"If Mois's really the one doing this, we need to see her," Natsumi realized. "I need to speak to her."

"I... I want to help the monsters who are so injured," Fuyuki admitted. Natsumi nodded.

"I'll go on my own, then. I can face her all on my own." She was determined. After all, Mois was her friend. And it was her fault for not talking to her about Kululu.

She had one more chance to talk some sense into her. Even if Mois still loved Kululu, she needed to understand.

"Alone? But I need to protect you..." Koyuki recalled.

"You need to help Dororo," Natsumi reminded her. "Your belief is what's keeping him alive."

Koyuki nodded. "Thank you." Her job was to protect Natsumi, but she was happy to stay behind and help Dororo. Momoka held Fuyuki's hand, staying with him.

"No way are you going alone. This place is dangerous. I'm going with you," Giroro told Natsumi,grinning. "I'll lead you into that manor."

"Thanks," she smiled. Giroro may have been slightly injured, but he was tough. After all, at least part of him was human like her.

And for some reason, only the most immortal of monsters were being injured.

* * *

It was hard to make it to the manor with the fissure now around it. Mois really _did_ rule this town with an iron fist. Natsumi didn't know how.

"I can help you across." Giroro jumped and put his arms out to catch her.

"Nah, don't need it." Natsumi jumped on her own.

"Whoa... I mean, uhh... okay." Giroro tried to deny that he was impressed. She had jumped a longer ways then he had.

They went up the hill to the front gates of the manor.

Giroro pressed the button to be let in and got squirted, just as usual.

Natsumi couldn't help but giggle. "You really _do_ fall for it every time."

"I keep wanting to press it... It's instinct!" he tried to defend. "I thought... that maybe this time..." He let out a sigh. It was useless.

She pushed the doors open to see the large hallway that lead to the great hall. Walking through it, she finally saw Mois.

And as Kululu had promised, she was on his lap, making out with him.

Natsumi shielded her eyes. They were... _quite_ entwined.

"Um... uhh... Mois? It's me," Natsumi waved.

Reluctantly, Mois pulled her lips away from Kululu's and got out of his lap. "N-Natsumi? What are you doing here? I thought you left town!"

"I didn't," she said. "And you know I support your quest in love, but... Well, okay, that's a different conversation. Stop killing people! People all over town are dying!"

"Oh... my bad. I forgot about that," Mois said with a giggle. She waved her hand. Natsumi didn't see what had changed, but then again, all the people were outside. "Done. Can you leave now please?"

"No. Mois, what's going on? You're not a killer! Kululu is! You shouldn't defend him. He needs to be taken away. The people of your town is being murdered..." she begged.

Mois frowned. "What's going on? I refused to give up Kululu, of course. I told you time and time again, Kululu isn't at fault. He's innocent. And even if he wasn't, I wouldn't let you take him. I love him."

Kululu grinned, kind of proudly.

"Mois! Please, listen to me. I have no idea why the people of your town were dying, but he has to go..." Natsumi pleaded.

"Natsumi, I like you." Mois sighed. "But if you keep talking like that, I might have to kill you, too."

Natsumi frowned. Deep down, a part of her had hoped Mois hadn't been responsible for those monsters dying, but _man_ were her temper tantrums really as bad as Kululu had said. But threats to her were going too far. She had to face the murders.

"Don't." Giroro gritted his teeth. "Don't you dare hurt Natsumi. Natsumi is stronger than this cursed town - "

"If you want to kill me, bring it on," Natsumi challenged. "I'll fight you. And if I win, you have to acknowledge that Kululu's a killer and let me have him." She put her fists up.

Mois just stared at her.

Kululu laughe., "Ku, ku, ku. Do you think Mois's just some average monster like me and Giroro or something? You idiot! You're doomed."

"What do you mean?" She lowered her fists. "I thought this town was full of monsters."

"It is. Ruled by the countess Mois herself. But you humans know her as a different name... A different sort of species."

"I'm a grim reaper!" Mois smiled, her scythe appearing behind her.

Natsumi just stared blankly as Mois looked down at her.

"Well, Natsumi, you were looking for the killer of all those human lives. And I kept telling you it _wasn't_ Kululu. You never believed me. But do you believe me now that you're looking at someone who, you could say, is death herself?

"I'm sorry, really. But it seems you've just picked a fight with death."

All Natsumi could do was gape.

* * *

 **I'm sorry, I didn't want to include the part about Mois and Kululu banging and wanted to keep it as personal head-canon territory for this story (because I have barely any stories where they aren't banging. Unless one of them's dead) But my sister (and beta) begged and begged until I gave in. She was like "I will be very disappointed in you if they aren't."**

 **Anyway, here's the monsters:**

 **Kululu-Vampire**

 **Giroro-Werewolf**

 **Tamama-Male banshee (wraith)**

 **Keroro- Doppelganger**

 **Dororo-Nine-tailed fox**

 **Angol Mois- Grim Reaper**

 **Anyway, please review!**


	9. Little Wager

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

 **One more chapter, Yay! I'm going to write more of this instead of doing my math homework, because I'm stuck.**

 **Also, this is just mostly the chapter with a Kululu flashback and how he met Angol Mois.**

* * *

Sometimes, privately of course, Kululu agreed with Giroro that being a monster was a curse. Of course that was only when his powers didn't benefit him, but he still thought it from time to time.

He used to believe it a lot when he first became a vampire. Despite what people thought, he wasn't very good at surviving on his own. In fact, he sucked at it, no pun intended.

He hadn't always been a vampire. Such an occurrance wouldn't be possible. Long ago, he had been human just like anyone else.

But it was a very, very long time ago.

* * *

Thousands and thousands of years ago, before even the year of A.D., people weren't the most intelligent. They made houses out of stone and society was a mess.

However, Kululu was intelligent. He was deeply ahead of his time. While everybody lived in stone huts he, melted down minerals from caves into metal masterpieces. He made things that helped only him.

Who knew how he had become such a genius? He just assumed he was better than everybody else - self-taught, making discoveries that he didn't share with the rest of humanity.

He believed people should have been worshiping him. After all, he appeared to be just an average human like them. But he was far superior.

And the humans living in his time would have been content to just leave him be, talking to themselves about how he was a wizard or perhaps a god. He didn't try to seek them out much for companionship, but he had one fatal flaw.

He was a jerk. And although he would say his death hadn't been his fault, it _had_ been his fault. He liked to seek out the pitiful humans who he deemed had lower intellect than him (basically everyone) and pull various pranks on them. Some resulted in them being miserable over very little things, but some were more grotesque in nature. Some involved leaving a beloved pet dead at the entrances of their houses.

It was sickening, but Kululu believed he could get away with it. _I'm so much better than all of them, after all. They said it themselves, I'm like a god. I was chosen._

But the people began to doubt this. Kululu didn't do anything good for society; he was an outlier who hurt everyone in his little town.

"He can't be a god. He surely must be a demon," someone suggested once. And that saying began to spread around.

Suddenly all the people wanted rid the demon who had slipped among them.

And their belief that he was so special was beginning to wane. Maybe he was just an average human like them, filled with demonic power.

Kululu had to go.

* * *

Late in the night they broke into his house. Kululu was confused at this. He had always believed the townspeople loved him.

"Hey, what's going on, guys? Ku, ku, ku," he said.

They remained silent as they tied him up and gagged his mouth.

"We'll get rid of the demon who roams among us," they eventually told him. He couldn't even laugh. They dragged him off to a hole in the ground that they had dug.

 _What are they planning on doing?_ Kululu wondered. They tossed him in. It wasn't a glamorous death, or anything of the sort. They just flung dirt over his body until he was covered completely.

In fact, it was pitiful and terrifying. It was slow and constricting as the dirt filled his lungs and he tried to dig himself up, realizing that for all his intelligence, he couldn't get out of simple situations if he didn't have the strength.

 _No... No! I can't die! Not like this!_ But eventually it was too late. His eyes closed and darkness found him.

* * *

He found himself in a cavern filled with eerie darkness. A man with a large beard stood before him. Kululu saw boats of people crossing a river, but the people were all transparent.

"Do you know where you are, Kululu?" the man asked, a scythe in his hand. Kululu looked to and fro fearfully. He had thought he was dead.

 _I am dead... aren't I? This is the end... No. No, it can't be. I was worth more than that pitiful run of a life._ "I'm dead, aren't I?" he spoke.

"And now your soul must move on. Your soul will be judged to see if you get another chance at life, reincarnation without your memories. But you will be alive again." The man turned away.

"WAIT!" Kululu yelled after him. The man turned. "You're death, aren't you?"

"I don't prefer that name," said the man. "Down here, people simply call me the King of Terror."

"There's legends about you among my people..." Kululu said hurriedly. "You could bring me back to life..."

"And why would I?" the king asked.

Kululu grinned. "Because I heard you, death, like to play games. You like to gamble. And I'm willing to play." He outstretched his arm. "Care for a game of wits? If I win, you grant me my life - no... eternal life." He was getting greedy. "And if I lose, I'll be your loyal servant for all of eternity."

The king looked at Kululu and sized him up. "I'm good at games," he told him. "And you're right. I do like to gamble. All of us Grim Reapers do." He sat down crossing his arms. "So you are on, young one. I will play against you. And you will lose. As per the ancient rules, you can choose the game..."

"Strategy." Kululu pulled out something that resembled a chess board. "Are you any good at this?"

"I'm great at it," said the King of Terror.

Kululu grinned and cracked his fingers. He had never ever lost a game of wits. The King of Terror was about to be owned.

* * *

Not surprisingly, Kululu won by a landslide. Sometimes he liked to try to pretend like he was giving the King of Terror a chance, just because he was so bored by how incredibly good he was at this game.

"H-how can this be?" the King of Terror asked. Then he chuckled, "I suppose you win. Eternal life is yours."

"Ku. Of course I do. You're an idiot," Kululu laughed. "God, it was so easy to trick you. To rub your stupid games in your face..." He didn't realize how much the King of Terror was frowning. "They should give me your position, because you really suck at it! _Children_ could play better than you!" he mocked.

And so the King of Terror just said, "You know what? I change my mind."

"No take-backs," Kululu gloated. "We made a deal. You thought you were the big bad on the playing ground, but it was really me. And you'll probably regret this for all of eternity."

The King of Terror narrowed his eyes. "I can't take back the eternal life I gave you, but I can make it a curse," he said. "You are a foul creature. After you get back to the land of the living, you'll have your eternal life, but it'll prove to be more than you bargained for... You'll thirst for an endless amount of blood, not being satisfied by any human foods. Your body will need your weight in blood for you to function, but even starved, you won't die. You'll just be as weak as your petty emotions are. You'll be the living dead... A monster. A pitiful, pitiful monster," he decreed.

Kululu frowned. He didn't like this. He loved human food, especially curry. "Wait... stop!"

But it was too late. He had returned to his hole in the human world. And the King of Terror had created the first ever vampire.

* * *

It took a while for Kululu to name what he was - vampire. He missed his curry dearly, but for a while, he felt powerful.

But that power quickly faded when he realized he needed blood to function. However without the strength to think and function he couldn't catch any prey, and at first, he was repulsed at the idea of sucking blood.

This quickly became a problem for him, when he got too weak that he couldn't function. And he realized his endless thirst for blood was indeed a curse. He could barely move. The great Kululu just waited in the slums for someone to die so he could scavenge off of their terrible dead blood.

* * *

Some people said hardships taught you humility. That wasn't true for Kululu. He just cursed the day he had mocked death.

But it was the first time he ever regretted any of his decisions. It wasn't enough to change his personality, but enough to wonder what it would have been like if he was nicer.

He felt powerless, weak, pitiful. Children laughed at him, and when they grew into adults they still laughed at the weak skinny little thing he was.

He could hunt a little bit, but he never got enough blood to truly be powerful. He just sucked at it, in both ways. Couldn't imprison someone for long enough. They were stronger than him.

For the first time in his life, he felt lonely and bad about himself.

So incredibly lonely and hallow.

* * *

He was lonely and weak for about a hundred years. And in those hundred years, he saw the people build up a town around him, a traveler's town that many people visited on their way to more important places.

He hunted during the night, trying to find the weakest and the dumbest of people. He liked inns because he could prey on people when they were asleep. He got mixed feelings sucking blood out of people, though, because sometimes they would become like him, infected. Worst of all, they thrived much better than him and ditched him. He might have been the first, but he was the weakest.

One day, when a lot of travelers were going through town, he found his new prey. She was a ditzy girl who had just entered town with silver hair the color of starlight, although she was much too polite and friendly and bubbly for her own good.

"You could say, shopping for some fine silks?" he heard her say once. She often tripped on her way through the market, and always gave way too much money when she was shopping, giving in to shopkeepers' ripoffs.

She was the perfect prey. Her body was young and succulent and full of fine blood. Kululu imagined for the first time what feeling full would be like.

So he stalked her for a few days. She was unaware of him watching her every move. And when she checked into an inn for sleep, he struck.

He flew through her window, dressed in his finest black. If he was going to kill someone for all that they had, he wanted to do it in style after all. It was a day to celebrate.

He leaped toward her and her eyes flew open as he grinned above her. She tried to move away, but he grabbed the poor girl by her hips.

"This will hurt. Ku, ku, ku. Give my regards to the King of Terror when you see him." His teeth extended and she squealed as he bit into her neck.

He sucked up that succulent blood as quickly as he could, but when it reached his throat, he had an odd reaction.

He started coughing. He took his mouth off of her. He couldn't breathe. He grabbed at his throat, gagging, as the girl crouched on her bed and watched him.

 _What did I drink?_ he wondered desperately. This blood wasn't like any else he had tasted. Not being able to breathe was no new experience, yet his entire body felt like it was withering away. It felt like he had drunken death itself.

His body was falling. He couldn't even keep himself up to cough. His arms tried to scramble for a grip, reach out for help that would never be given to him as he felt his eyes close in that familiar way. He was dying. He was going to die and he wasn't sure why.

The girl carefully got off her bed and walked over to him. She gave him a slap on the back. "Throw it up. You can't stomach that," she told him. He had never had someone give him instructions like that.

 _No! I won't do what you say._ Kululu knew his stubborness was killing him. But he wouldn't do what this strange girl had asked.

The girl sighed and tilted his head up to her. She pried his jaw open and, despite his sharp fangs, she plunged her fingers into the back of his throat to activate his gag reflex.

He vomited the blood up all over the floor. For a moment, his strength returned to him. He was still panting heavily, but at least he was no longer dying. "Wh-what the hell did I drink?"

"My blood," she answered. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?" She was being way too polite to someone who just had a man lock his teeth onto her neck. She stroked his hair as he panted.

He had never had someone be so calm and soothing to him. This person must have been something awful.

He got up and looked at her fearfully. "Wh-what are you?" he asked fearfully.

"My name is Angol Mois. I'm sorry," she apologized. "I should have like warned you before you tried to make a meal out of my blood."

"No, not _who_ are you... _What_ are you?"

"A Grim Reaper," she told him. "In a word, I'm death. You mentioned you met the King of Terror. You could say, like father, like daughter?" She smiled kindly.

Kululu looked terrified. There were more of them? Had the King of Terror sent his daughter to him to lure him out and torture him?

He could feel his eyes drooping. He had exerted his strength too much.

"You'll be pretty tired. You did just try to drink death. Sleep, it's best for you," she advised.

And Kululu couldn't help but fall asleep.

* * *

He didn't trust her, and he half expected to have a stake in his heart or something when he woke up. Not like he had a heart. That technique might have worked on other vampires who didn't have as eternal a life, but not him.

Instead, he woke up to her shiny golden eyes looking at him. She had tucked him into her bed.

"Wh-what?" he gasped.

Mois smiled at him. "You're awake! I brought you something." She held a cup out to him.

"I can't drink wine," he told her, seeing the red liquid.

"It's blood, not wine," she told him. "You're so tired because you haven't drunk anything for a while, aren't you? My father put a nasty curse on you. He brags about it sometimes. I didn't know you were real until now, though."

Kululu's hands were much too shaky to hold the cup. Mois brought it to his lips and slowly let him drink the liquid down.

He looked at her suspiciously after he had been fed. "Why are you helping me? And where'd you get that blood?"

"Take a guess," she giggled. "My job is to take lives. I just used the body to harvest you a snack," she said with a smile. "And why I'm helping you? I suppose you could say I feel pity for you. You looked so hungry that you almost killed yourself making a meal out of me. And, yeah, you tried to kill me... But I can't help but feel like you only did that to stop being so hungry." She felt his forehead. "How long has it been since you had a proper meal?"

Kululu's eye twitched. She was way too sweet. Too pure. This could _not_ be death's daughter. This was something much more terrifying. Some sort of angel of kindness with her pure, sparkly happiness. _Big mistake. Ditzy, bubbly girls are not a good meal._ "A century, maybe," he answered.

Mois put her fingers to her lips. "Oh dear! No wonder you don't look like you're in the best shape!"

Kululu narrowed his eyes. "Ku. You saying I'm hideous or something?"

"No. I mean, you're quite good looking, but you look so frail. You shouldn't leave until you're all fixed up. I can help you, to make up for how you almost died for feeding on me." She smiled. "I mean... if that's okay? Would it be all right to have death's help? Not many people want it..."

"Knock yourself out. I'm hungry enough to accept it," he told her. "But I'm not doing anything in return for you. Ku, ku, ku."

Mois nodded.

* * *

She fed him and cared for his various wounds for a week. Kululu had never met anyone so kind. Part of him was happy to find her, but part of him was also suspicious. She had to have something up her sleeve. He just didn't trust her.

At the same time, she was super cute and super kind and he was honestly flattered by all the attention she was giving him. Part of him really valued her and knew she was just genuine, and part of her wished he had been able to kill her.

He was thankful and grateful. She had saved his life. But he wasn't grateful enough to not try to con her the same way he had conned her father.

After a week when he was in tip-top shape, he smiled at her. He had been learning a bit about her. It was clear that she was quite kind for a Grim Reaper. She liked talking to him because she was almost lonelier than him. She thrived on positive contact, but most of the people she met had such short life-spans and she had been sent to kill them. However, because Kululu had an eternal life, she was very honest that she wanted to start a friendship with him.

She was a sweet girl. If he wasn't so hungry and looking out for number one, he suspected he would have fallen for her charms, developed some sort of stupid, terrifying crush on her... But he cared too much about himself to let that happen.

"Mois, I'm all better. I can leave now," he told her one day.

"Oh... I'm going to miss you." She had liked taking care of him.

Kululu grinned. "I don't really _need_ to leave, though." He remembered the rumors about Grim Reapers. All of them fell for the same trick - gambling. "What would you say to having me as your eternal, loyal companion?"

"I would love that!" said Mois.

"Let's play a game, then. A wager. Ku, ku, ku. It'll be a game of wits. I'm sure you're smart enough to win... because if you do, of course, I'll be your loyal servant for all of eternity."

"And if I lose?" she asked carefully.

"You have to get me blood for the rest of my life. You're death, so it'll be easy for you. You'll harvest me all the blood I need so I can survive." He smirked. "So how about it?"

Mois thought a moment. "I would love to play with you, Kululu. What game?"

"Chess," he said, producing a chess board. He was about to beat her in the same way he had beat her father. _It's like she said - like father, like daughter._

Folded his hands. "You can go first, my dear."

* * *

Mois cleared the board. "Want to play again?"

Kululu gaped, the corner of his mouth still twitching. She had kicked his butt. She hadn't been anything like her father. He was surprised - he didn't think he could have lost.

"But... But... how?" He already knew. She had been smart - her intellect and wit was quick, and she had used every trick in the book. She had distracted him with her cute eyes and complimenting his every move to make him doubt himself. He had gotten totally embarrassed, and his game had faltered for her to take a clear and decisive victory.

He sighed. He had lost, and he had to go by his promise. She had proven herself, and he was happy enough to not leave her side and become her loyal servant. "You win. I'll serve you." He got up and bowed on one knee to her. He grabbed her hand and quickly kissed it to seal the deal. "It's nice to meet you, my mistress. You've earned my respect. I can't deny I was totally beaten." He'd take this loss with grace. Being the servant of such an interesting person (also a Grim Reaper herself) wasn't too humiliating.

Mois giggled as his lips touched her hand. "Oh Kululu, you silly! You don't have to. We can throw the wager away if you want. I mean, I don't even like gambling. I just agreed because I wanted to play a game with you and spend time doing something you liked."

Kululu frowned. She was terrifying. Such a pure reason was incredibly stupid. "I'm not throwing away my vow. I beat your father and became like this, and you beat me so I'll become your servant."

Mois sighed. "All right, then. How about I give you the blood of my victims, anyway? As payment for your services and loyalty, of course," she decided. "I don't want you to be starving, after all. And you - I'm sorry - have proven that you can't get the blood yourself."

Kululu looked at her. _There's that crush I said I wouldn't get. Wow. I just... guess this was inevitable._ He just looked at her in awe. She was willing to do that for him? She really was the nicest creature in the world.

"It's a deal, then," he promised, "I'm yours."

* * *

As the years went on, their bond grew and grew. Kululu fell deeper and deeper in love with her, serving her faithfully as he promised. His loyalty was matched by nothing.

But eventually he realized that nothing would ever happen between them. She had done enough for him, helping him survive, being kind to him, and valuing him every day. She loved him in her own way, but he imagined it was like someone loved their pet. Essentially, that was all he was to her. She was much too amazing for the likes of him. She was on a different class of living. She was a Grim reaper, kind, pure, and genuine; and he was just her servant.

And he'd be her servant for eternity. Just as he pledged.

 _I'll make you happy, Mois. For you and only you I won't be selfish. I'll learn that humility that I never learned. And I'll never desire something out of you again,_ he pledged.

He would give her anything she wanted. But whenever she asked for him to kiss her, he would try his hardest not to enjoy it, because all he was was a servant. That was all he ever would be. He was a placeholder for the person she'd fall in love with that deserved her, who had never tried to trick her. And he would just stay by her side.

She was Death and he was her servant. They could never be anything more in his mind.

Because if she ever suggested anything more, it must have been for his pleasure, not her own. Before, she had made it apparent that she pitied him and would give him anything. She was even killing people who weren't supposed to die for him.

So he tried to separate his feelings from his duty. All for her.

Maybe if she wasn't helping him so much, if he wasn't a cursed vampire, he would have tried to make a move on her. But his life was in her hands. The only reason he wasn't weak and pitiful was because of her.

She was taking care of him. And he had no right to take advantage.

* * *

Angol Mois stepped in front of Natsumi, twirling her scythe like a baton.

"I really am sorry that I'm going to have to kill you," she apologized.

Natsumi didn't know how to fight death.

"Don't worry, it'll be quick," Mois added.

"You won't beat me," said Natsumi. She ran toward Mois, her fists bared. In a second, Mois just sighed and a beam of energy appeared from her scythe that launched itself at Natsumi.

Natsumi couldn't move out of it quick enough. She could only assume it would kill her if it touched her.

"NATSUMI!" Giroro screamed. Thinking fast, he pushed her out of the way and took it himself.

Natsumi looked shocked as Giroro fell to the ground.

"Natsumi... please, keep your humanity and your life..." he begged, clutching at her shirt. His hand went limp as he died.

"Giroro? Giroro!" Natsumi tried to shake him awake. But he was gone.

She felt tears wetten her cheek. "You're awful! You killed him! You can't just kill whoever you want... Killing is wrong!" she yelled.

"Um... Natsumi, killing is my job," Mois politely reminded her. "I wouldn't expect a human to understand, though. You all are so afraid of death, but it's inevitable thing that happens. Without it, the world would stop. I have an important place in the world. I'm sorry, you can't understand that."

"But you're killing people before their time! Giroro... He didn't deserve it..." Natsumi sobbed. "You're killing people before they're meant to be killed, and for what?"

"For Kululu. For the promise we made long ago," she said simply. She waited for Natsumi to get up so they could return to their fight.

Carefully, Natsumi got up. She let out a sob, but she ran toward Mois again. Mois got ready to deliver another hit so she could join Giroro.

"Stop!" It was Giroro's voice.

All three of them turned to the dead body, confused. He shouldn't have been alive. But his body moved and he got up.

"What...?" Mois was confused. That wasn't supposed to happen.

"Giroro... How are you alive?" Natsumi asked. "I thought she killed you!"

He grinned. "It's because she's been killing people before their time. Those people weren't supposed to die," he said. "So when I died, I went above her head..."

"Wait... You don't mean - " Kululu looked terrified.

"Yep. It's not the honorable way to go, but I did tattle on you. You've been a naughty girl. So when I saw your father, the King of Terror, I was like, "So... am I supposed to be dead? Your daughter's doing some messed-up stuff.' And he was like, 'I had no idea!' And then he gave me back my life. He said he'll be here in a minute. Because it turns out you've been doing worse, Mois... To try to cover up the killing you've been doing for him, you've eliminated the souls of the people you've killed for blood. Meaning they can't reincarnate. They're just gone, to hide your secret. But you forgot to eliminate one soul." He tapped his thumb on his chest. " _Mine_."

"Damn," Kululu swore. He really didn't want to deal with this.

And for once, even Mois looked frightened. What she had been afraid of had happened was now coming true. Her father was coming.

* * *

 **Wow, Giroro's death did not last long.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Please review.**


	10. Morality

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

 **It's finally done! What a short, quick story to write. I liked it.**

* * *

Giroro had been dead for a time. But it had been worth it. For at least a time, Natsumi's life had been saved. He really hoped she was smart enough to get out of there. To run.

"It is not your time." A man with a long beard stood before him. "How did you end up here? I suppose I see an odd accident every now and then, and you _are_ quite unlucky..." He stroked his beard.

"Angol Mois blasted me. She's a jerk," Giroro growled.

The man's eyes widened. "Do you know where you are?"

"I assume I'm dead. I _did_ get blasted by a Grim Reaper," he said.

"So... you meant that Mois... my daughter..." He frowned. "Sit down. I am quite interested to hear how she's doing. I haven't heard from her in quite some time."

Giroro looked up. This was Mois's father? "I live in a town that she governs and gives safe haven to the supernatural creatures in. Or at least, I _used_ to live in that town."

"Mois always was someone who liked helping the very pitiful and unwanted. She always took it upon herself to fight for the rights of the creatures she found most pathetic. Thought it was being kind, in her own way." The King grinned as he thought of his daughter.

"But the humans in the town have been getting murdered. They were vanishing, and nobody knew who the killer was on the lose," Giroro explained.

The King frowned. "Odd. I haven't dealt with any humans from this town you speak of. If they were killed or died, they should have come to me."

"They probably didn't, because Mois was killing them. Maybe she didn't want you to know." Giroro explained.

"There would be no reason for me not to know. Her job is to kill... but in excesses like that." He frowned. That was unusual. "Unless she was doing it for a reason I didn't support... She would have hidden it by eliminating those poor souls from the reincarnation stream. Killing their mortal bodies and their immortal souls just to silence them."

"Why am I not silenced, then?" Giroro asked.

"Probably because she blasted you. She didn't complete the process... Odd, why would my daughter be up to such a thing?" the King asked.

"I think she's bleeding them and giving the blood to a vampire by the name of Kululu - You probably don't know him..." Giroro was cut off by the King of Terror pounding his scythe on the ground.

"Kululu? She's aiding _Kululu_?" He had never forgotten how much Kululu had laughed at him. And he was livid. "Go to her, Giroro, and warn her of my return. Because she is in major trouble."

"I can't go to her. I'm dead," Giroro reminded him.

"Your life is returned to you. It wasn't meant to be taken away from you so young. Her meddling wasn't supposed to have an affect in this." The King waved his hand.

And Giroro vanished to return. He smiled. Angol Mois was in biiig trouble.

* * *

"My father?" Angol Mois asked, looked terrified. She was in trouble now.

"Won't that be even _more_ of a problem? If one Grim Reaper was hard to deal wit,h won't two be even more troublesome?" asked Natsumi.

"Well, he can't be _that_ mad at you, right...? I mean, you were doing everything according to your job..." Kululu trailed off.

"Actually... um..." She twiddled her fingers. "I wasn't. I eliminated the victims' souls so they couldn't tell my father about how I was using my power for my own benefit, which is actually quite illegal. So, you _could_ say I am in trouble."

Kululu looked at her worriedly. He had no idea that his thirst had caused this much problem.

At that moment, a small cyclone appeared between Natsumi and Mois. They both knew who was in it. As it disappeared, a large man with a beard was before them.

 _Is... Is that death?_ Natsumi wondered. A few weeks ago she would have never dreamed that she would have been staring straight at Death's back. She would have punched someone if they said she would witness a fight between two Grim Reapers.

Natsumi didn't know whether to feel very frightened, humbled, or ready to fight. Whatever was about to happen couldn't be very good.

Worry ate away at her as the two Grim Reapers stared at each other. People would die from their battle. She could imagine it would be nothing less than intense.

"So he is here." Mois's father shot a disgusted glare at Kululu. "I had hoped the werewolf had been lying."

"Mois's not at fault! She didn't do anything. I tricked her into helping me - " Kululu tried to take the blame again, getting between them. Mois shushed him by kissing him on the cheek.

"It is my fault. You can't take the blame for everything, Kululu. I chose to kill those people of my own volition," she told him sweetly.

"You've done a great disservice to humanity, abusing your powers like this. Abusing your birth right." Her father sounded betrayed. "And for what? For _him_? You made the wrong choice. You will be punished for this. You might even be exiled from our people, giving up your life as a Grim Reaper."

Mois stood her ground, clutching onto her scythe. "I will not give up who I am. It was you who made him like this, requiring me to use my power for him to be satisfied. And how many times have you abused your power just to play with a human? So I will not accept that I've done anything wrong."

Her fathergrew in size, just to look down upon her. "You will not get your way. You will not win this fight."

"Yes. Yes, I will!" Mois launched herself forward, rushing up to attack.

"Mois!" Kululu yelled.

Giroro grabbed Natsumi's hand. They would not survive to witness the two Grim Reapers clashing. He didn't know what kind of power emerged from such a supernatural battle, but he did not want to find out.

Natsumi turned around to leave with him, but the exit was blocked by rubble. They were trapped. And if either of them, both mortals, got caught in the crossfire, they were dead.

Natsumi looked up at Giroro. She didn't want to be frightened. But she was so out of her element. The supernatural was never her place, it was Fuyuki's.

And she was beginning to realize she couldn't fight it. And she felt weak.

"It's all right," Giroro told her. He knew she didn't want him to see her cry if she was frightened. So he tried to pull her into a hug so a single tear could drop down her face.

Through it all, she was finally realizing what Giroro was saying. They were only humans, and the rest of the things in this town were not. She could not fight it. Giroro had already died once for her mistake. And now they would probably die together, for good, as the whole house fell around them from the oncoming battle.

She was human, and although in some cases that was enough to fight, like to fight normal things like vampires and werewolves, it was not enough to fight death. And she was frightened.

So Giroro just held her. They were as good as dead. He looked at the Grim Reaper battle before him, holding his breath.

Mois and her father's scythes clashed. Sparks flew between them.

They gazed at each other intensely. This was clearly a battle to the death. Well, not _their_ deaths. Kululu, Giroro, and Natsumi could all sense it in the atmosphere.

That was, at least, until Angol Mois spoke. "Daddy!" She stepped back, stomping her feet childishly. "Stop being mean! I can abuse my power just as much as you can! You're just mad because you don't like Kululu."

"This battle has nothing to do with that," said her father. "This is a battle of complex moral judgment. And I forbid you from aiding him..."

"But Daddy, I love him!" Mois insisted. Giroro and Kululu looked at each other for a moment as they realized both of the Grim Reapers' scythes were gone. What Giroro had assumed was going to be a battle of force and power was now a battle of words.

Could words kill? He honestly did not know.

"You will not be dating him! I forbid it!" the King of Terror huffed.

Mois crossed her arms. "Daddy! No." She shook her head. "He's my boyfriend and you have to accept that. He's part of the family now, so I can feed him all the blood he needs. And may I remind you that I'm killing people because of you, who made him like this just because your were just as petty and childish as he. You couldn't take being mocked so you had to have the last word!"

"That is not what happened!" the King of Terror yelled. "Be reasonable, Mois. Fine, fine. You can keep your Grim Reaper status, but only if you dump him - "

"No. I love him," Mois smiled. She sauntered over to Kululu. "And if you don't leave me alone, I'll make out with him right here in front of you."

The King of Terror screamed. "Don't do this, Mois. Really, please, don't."

"Maybe I should just leave... This is _not_ what I expected..." Kululu scratched his head. "I'm so confused."

"Good luck with leaving. The exit's blocked," Giroro pointed out. Kululu frowned.

"Mois, listen, sweetie, my child... You do not have to do this. Just take your punishment responsible..." the King reasoned.

"No! I will not!" Mois stomped her feet again. "You're being so mean! Daddy... why won't you just let me be happy?" Her eyes teared up.

"Oh... Oh no, don't cry... Oh geez, I wish your mom was here..." The King tried to calm down his spoiled little daughter. He glanced at Giroro, who had brought him here. He was beginning to regret his decision to chew his daughter out.

Mois threw her scythe at him. "Kululu is part of our family, and I can do what I want! I'm an adult, too!"

"Missy, you're only a little child in Grim Reaper years. Just a few thousand years old - "

"NO! I'm dating him and you'll accept that, since that's your real issue here, or else!"

"Or else _what_? You can't threaten me!" the King of Terror growled.

"Or else I'm going to cry and I'm never going to forgive you from tearing me away from my soul mate!" she threatened.

The King of terror stopped grumbling. Mois's tears were already starting to bubble up.

"Oh... Oh no... Oh don't do that. Please. Anything but that," he begged.

But Mois started sobbing. The King of Terror - Death himself - looked sheepish. After a moment of her loud wails, he gave in.

"Fine! Fine! You can date him! And you won't be punished for eliminating thousands of human souls! I'm sure they weren't important! Just please stop crying!" he begged.

Mois perked up, like a switch had flipped. "Okay! And you'll accept him as part of the family?"

The King of Terror looked at Kululu and glared. Mois's lip started quivering again. "Fine! Fine! You got it!" he agreed.

"Yay! You could say, happy ending?" she squealed.

Natsumi pried Giroro's arms off of her. "Wait, what? No. No way." She shook her head. "Mois's been killing people. Murdering them gruesomely!"

"Yep! I was keeping them alive with my power until they were completely drained of blood. They had miserable deaths," Mois said honestly.

Natsumi was horrified. "And you just accept that? She's done horrible things! She shouldn't be let on her way to just kill who she pleases. You're an expert of moral judgment. Shouldn't you stop her?" She looked desperately at the King of Terror.

The King thought for a moment. "Nope. I don't want to deal with her temper-tantrums. This was probably her calmest one yet. She can do as she pleases."

Natsumi looked terrified. Mois was so spoiled! And the King of Terror vanished.

"See? Problem solved. You could say, agreement reached?" Mois smiled at Natsumi. "And since you know you're not strong enough to take me down now, I assume everything is solved. So... uhh... friends again?" She reached out her hand.

Natsumi felt like she was the only normal person in this town. "No!" She swatted her hand away. She didn't know what to do.

Would the murders keep happening? Had she solved nothing coming here? Was she just a tiny meaningless pebble in a stream?

She felt terrible.

* * *

The town was cleaned up pretty fast, and the residents seemed to act like nothing had happened. They just ignored it. Natsumi felt shaky and nauseous at what she had learned. Nothing was right.

"I didn't imagine that whole thing, right?" Natsumi asked to Giroro. It felt like such an unsatisfying end. No monster captured, no way to capture them, and the murders likely continuing. "You really died, didn't you?"

He nodded. "That's why I told you to stay away from this town. The people here are odd - they accept the unusual. But you... You understand right and wrong. You don't belong here, Natsumi. This adventure in your life... It was just a bump. You may think losing like this makes you like a pebble in a stream of things that you can't control, but really this town was a pebble in your path. A bump in the road of your life. And you'll move on to do things and help others. Because you're that kind of person," he told her with a smile. "And you'll succeed."

Natsumi stared at him. "You died for me. That was a grave sacrifice. Why?"

Giroro sighed. It was time to tell her his feelings, the deep things inside him that he felt so intensely. But to confess his love to her, how he wanted her to be safe, he needed the most perfect, the most honest words. "I suppose you could say I've fallen for you." And he used the worst pick-up line in history, considering that he had literally fallen to the ground and died that day.

Natsumi slapped him.

"OW!" Giroro groaned.

"Sorry, it's just... That was a really bad," she laughed.

"I know. I know. Now I feel bad. I'm so sorry," he apologized. He felt so ashamed.

Natsumi giggled. "It's fine. I just... It's a little surprising that you'd be so bad with romance. I mean, when I first met you, I saw you as this intimidating, tough figure. A sort of a bad boy. But to know you're so bad at puns... It's kind of funny."

Giroro frowned. "You know, you can just say you don't feel the same way..."

"I didn't say I didn't." She leaned up and kissed him on the lips. "I just think it's fun to keep you guessing." She grinned.

"A challenge even here, hmm? Interesting." He liked the kiss she had given him, even if it was short. But she quickly made it longer, and they kissed for a few moments to erase from their minds the terrible things they had learned about the town.

* * *

It took them a week to pack up and get ready to leave town. Natsumi eventually decided she had done some good, because she had heard rumors around town that the countess and her evil servant had vanished. People had said the murderer struck again, and Natsumi and Fuyuki decided it was best to not tell them that they were ruled by a murderer.

Sometimes Natsumi wondered where they were. If they were off killing others. But it frightened her to think about.

Sometimes it was best to just put it out of her head.

* * *

Really Angol Mois had gone back home, to visit her family in the land of the dead. After more begging and prodding, Kululu's thirst for blood was finally repealed. And he could finally eat foods again like curry.

When he tasted curry for the first time in a thousand years, he wept.

"What now?" Kululu asked her. "I mean, if you really want to live back at home with your parents, I'm fine with that, but don't you miss the town you left behind? Didn't you like the power of ruling over it?"

"I made it for you. And it is unneeded now. But I suppose we could find a new town," she said. "There will be more monsters who need haven. More people. And although it won't be like the last town, it could still be ours. After all, we need a base to watch the centuries pass."

"We'll make a new one. Without the bad history the other one had," he decided.

"Yes. And it'll be bigger! We need a nice to place to raise the little ones!" she beamed.

"Little ones? Ohhh, like genetic experiments! Ku, ku, ku, I like it!"

Mois giggled. "I meant children."

Kululu grimaced. That was perhaps a more terrifying fate than being a vampire.

* * *

They were all at the train station. They might not have had a supernatural creature in tow, but they were going to leave this town, anyway.

"Who's going to rule now that Mois's gone?" Natsumi asked the monsters.

"I... I am," Keroro answered. "There's too much of a political struggle with her gone, and a few of the other monsters have discussed it with me. Because of my doppelganger abilities, it's best for all if I just pose as her, at least until I can hand the town over to myself. Apparently doppelgangers have fairy blood. They're fairy children auctioned away to goblins for a purpose. But because of my fairy blood, I can be very charismatic. So I'll bring this town to how it's supposed to be. Safe," he said with a smile.

"Yep! My Mr... I mean, Keroro will do great!" Tamama smiled. He wasn't too happy with Keroro having to pose as someone else, especially that woman, since Keroro was just finding his identity, but he was glad Keroro got a chance to help people. Keroro liked doing that.

"It's too bad about Mois. I had no idea she was like that," Dororo frowned, "I'd like to say it was clear cut, like she was evil, but I think there's a different phrase for it. As she might tell you - 'you could say, love makes you do crazy things?' It was a real pity." He nodded sadly.

Natsumi had to agree - it _was_ a pity. Mois had acted like a nice girl. But she didn't know at all how much of that had been an act. And how much of Kululu's evil had been an act for them to suspect him.

"So... I guess this is good-bye, then." She looked a bit sad.

"Actually, Natsumi..." Koyuki trailed off.

"You want to stay?" she said. "We can't. We have places to be Koyuki."

"You have places to be," Koyuki corrected. "My clan is dying out. We're unneeded. But here, the people keep to tradition, to the spirits. And without Mois here... Dororo has no one to remember him. He needs a person. A real person. Me," she told her. "I went with you for the money. I thought money could help me find where I needed to be in this world. But it was the journey that made me find where to be. Here."

Natsumi looked shocked, but she couldn't tell her best friend no. So instead she just hugged her. "I'll try to visit you," she promised. Koyuki smiled.

"Thanks," she said, standing by Dororo's side.

Natsumi tried not to cry. She glanced at the approaching train.

"I guess this is good-bye, then," Giroro told her.

Natsumi shook her head. "You know, I can't stay. But that doesn't mean you can't come with."

"I'm a monster," he reminded her.

"But you don't belong here. You're human, as far as I care, except on the full moon. And I've proven I can't get bitten. You want adventure as much as I do. You weren't meant to stay in one town." She reached out her hand. "It's only you who thinks that being a werewolf is a curse. You've got to fight it. To make something of yourself. You have 29 days out of the month. Isn't that enough?"

Giroro thought for a moment. He looked at Dororo.

"Go. You weren't meant to be in this town. I'll be fine. And you can visit," Dororo told him. Giroro nodded after a moment. Then he smiled.

"Just make sure to kick my butt when I try to bite you," he said to Natsumi.

"That is one promise I can keep forever," Natsumi grinned. And she helped Giroro onto the train with her.

She'd take one thing from the town, and Fuyuki would be happy enough because it was a supernatural creature.

In her life, this adventure would mean something. Because it was where she met Giroro.

* * *

She sat on the train across from her brother. It was almost like how they had come to the town. Except this time she had two new companions, Giroro and Momoka, traveling with her.

She saw fliers being handed out on the train talking about Mutsumi, the thief who was going through town to town stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. He must have left before them and made something of himself instead of hiding in fear.

Maybe she'd catch him next, although he wasn't really doing much wrong.

She smiled at Fuyuki. "I guess that wasn't all bad, but you didn't get a subject to research."

"It was a fun trip," Fuyuki smiled. Then he sighed and looked out the window. "You know what I'm thinking about doing next?"

"Being quiet?" she asked.

"No! Looking into aliens! I know they're out there! Wouldn't that be a cool trip to plan? To try to find them..."

Fuyuki was cut off by Momoka's sigh of annoyance. "You're marrying me first. No running off on research trips like this one before we're wed."

Natsumi laughed. Nothing had really changed. But at the same time, she had. She was more accepting of the unusual.

She watched the town of Lunaris get smaller and smaller out the window. That adventure was gone. And although bad things had happened and it hadn't ended satisfyingly, she was happy.

She might not have played a big part, but her personal journey had been a big one. And that was enough for now.

 _I'll catch murderers later. And nobody's getting away again,_ she vowed.

* * *

 **All right, so I will now mostly try to update Heartbeat Lies now and write more of that. I also have a Pirate AU in the works.**

 **And of course two research papers to complete...Hmm...Maybe I should do those first and do things at a slower pace fanfiction wise...Probably.**

 **Please review!**


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